It’s been there for a few days USNS Benavidez in the Mediterranean, ten kilometers off the coast of the Gaza Strip. What had previously only been seen in satellite images was documented by the US military for the first time on Tuesday with photos that were obviously taken from the 290-meter-long supply ship: soldiers began assembling a floating pier, the US President Joe Biden announced in his State of the Union address at the beginning of March. The Pentagon estimates the cost of the construction at $320 million, which will initially allow 90 truckloads of aid to reach the Palestinian territory, and then 150 when fully operational.
The construction of the temporary port facility is also a visible sign that Washington’s patience with the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is running out. It would be cheaper and easier if more trucks could reach the coastal strip by land. Israel and the United Nations blame each other for the fact that this is still not happening sufficiently.
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However, such auxiliary structures cannot be built to end the war in the Gaza Strip and achieve a lasting political solution. This is not possible without the active participation of the parties to the conflict. The next few days will determine whether hope or frustration prevails – the two opposing moods with which diplomats describe a series of talks in Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh.
It is said in Riyadh that “everything now depends on the hostage deal.”
In addition to access to Gaza for humanitarian aid, the focus of the discussions on the sidelines of a meeting of the World Economic Forum was primarily the question of whether Israel and Hamas would find a way to release up to 40 of the Israeli hostages still being held in Gaza by the terrorist organization In exchange for a ceasefire. “Everything depends on that now,” said a person familiar with the talks.
Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told Deutschlandfunk on Tuesday after her return to Berlin that it was now “solely in the hands” of the Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, Yahia Sinwar, whether the hostages were finally released. In recent months, however, we have seen again and again that Hamas is trying to prolong the war. That’s why it’s important that we have “a common, united voice from Arab countries, from European countries, from the Americans that makes it clear: This terrible war must come to an end.”
In discreet meetings in Riyadh, foreign ministers from Western and Arab states also discussed elements for a transition period between an end to the hostilities and the goal of a two-state solution shared by this group. In addition to the USA, Great Britain, France, Italy and Germany were also represented. In addition to Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar also took part from the region.
The USA could conclude a security agreement with Saudi Arabia
It was the second meeting of this group. Federal Foreign Minister Baerbock called the first meeting in this format in February during the Munich Security Conference. As was the case then, only the ministers themselves took part in the meeting without any other staff members. There are no official announcements about the status of the talks – their content is too sensitive.
All that is known is that this involves, among other things, interim arrangements for administration and security in the Gaza Strip after the fighting has ended, which diplomats believe could also require an international troop presence. It is also about reforms of the Palestinian Authority.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas appointed a new government with Mohammad Mustafa as prime minister at the end of March. However, in many western capitals this is not considered sufficient. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to Amman on Tuesday; Jordan’s King Abdullah II and his government maintain close contacts with the Palestinian Authority and Palestinian politicians.
Blinken also discussed U.S. efforts to broker a normalization of the kingdom’s relations with Israel with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, where he is expected on Wednesday. President Biden is reportedly prepared to honor Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s key wish to conclude a security agreement with the kingdom that would include military assistance, similar to such agreements with Japan or South Korea. Saudi Arabia also wants US support in setting up a civilian nuclear program – which is triggering concerns in Washington that Riyadh wants to gain an option for nuclear weapons like its regional rival Iran.
If Netanyahu orders the Rafah offensive, everything will be at stake again
However, Saudi Arabia is demanding a concrete, data-based plan from Israel to implement a two-state solution, which Prime Minister Netanyahu has so far strictly rejected, at least publicly. Arrangements for a transitional period are also likely to play an important role here. However, whether and in what form the Arab states are prepared to participate will likely depend on what commitments Israel is prepared to make.
Some European states are considering recognizing a Palestinian state as early as the coming months, even if no process can be agreed upon by then. The federal government is more cautious. Unlike before, the Foreign Office is no longer of the opinion that such a step is only conceivable at the end of the process. Berlin sees more leeway on the question of full membership of the Palestinians in the United Nations.
However, diplomats warn that all further considerations will lose relevance and momentum for months if a hostage deal is not reached – and Netanyahu subsequently orders the Israeli army to launch an offensive in Rafah. Many of the remaining Hamas fighters are holed up in the city in the south of the Gaza Strip. However, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from other parts of the area have also found refuge there.