Gaza peace talks appear to be ramping up this week, thanks largely to the input of Donald Trump.
Indeed, Europe is not only now watching from the sidelines but has also made it more difficult for others to force Hamas to back down.
Jimmie Åkesson, leader of the Sweden Democrats (SD), has written in Expressen alongside his party colleague Mattias Karlsson that the decision by more than half of EU member states to recognise a state of Palestine “risks fueling the Islamists’ continued desire for war.”
It is an action that, despite good intentions to promote peace, risks undermining the principles that the West claims to stand for.
This echoes Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s claim that officials should focus their pressure on Hamas, not Israel.
Åkesson and Karlsson also accused EU leaders of choosing to ignore the fact that polling suggests “at least half of Gaza’s residents, as well as a significant portion of the West Bank, want to see Hamas rule.” They said this meant the decision to recognise a Palestinian state “at this stage therefore risks becoming recognition of a political entity based on violence and Islamism.”
Their comments came as Trump presented a proposal for peace, a Hamas response to which is expected to “take days.” The proposal calls for a ceasefire and the release of the remaining Israeli hostages, as well as the disarmament of Hamas and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
Former UK Prime Minister Anthony (‘Tony’) Blair—of Iraq fame—is also being lined up to help oversee this possible transition. When such a position was first discussed last year, journalist and author Peter Hitchens said he didn’t understand why “someone who made such a complete mess of his main foreign policy adventure should be taken seriously ever again … or should be treated as an important player,” adding that Blair instead
should be entering a Trappist monastery where he vows never to say another word again for the rest of his life and spends his time praying for forgiveness.
Brussels Report editor Pieter Cleppe added on Tuesday that “Tony Blair should stay away from the Middle East” because of Iraq.
Michael Curzon is a news writer for europeanconservative.com based in England’s Midlands. He is also Editor of Bournbrook Magazine, which he founded in 2019, and previously wrote for London’s Express Online. His Twitter handle is @MichaelCurzon_.
