“The Situation – International”
Gaza peace deal: This is how Europe can regain its influence
Germany and Europe were not included in the negotiations on the Gaza plan. Expert Christian Mölling explains why this is – and what needs to be changed in the future.
Europe and Germany played no role in US President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace deal, despite its special relations with Israel. Instead, the US negotiating team achieved a breakthrough with the help of countries such as Qatar and Egypt.
After the Gaza Peace Deal: Questions for Europe
Does this mean that Germany and Europe are logged out of the region in the long term? Not necessarily, believes Christian Mölling, senior advisor at the Brussels think tank “European Policy Center”. As a donor you will definitely have a certain influence in the context of the reconstruction. In order to help ensure long-term peace in the region, one aspect is particularly important. “The question is to what extent you combine giving money with incentives,” says Mölling star– “The Situation – International”.
The political scientist warns that Europe must specify clear conditions under which it is prepared to give money: “Before you do that, you have to ask yourself two questions: What have we done wrong in the past? And what is the future model for the Gaza Strip and the relations between Israel and the Palestinians?”
No support for propaganda
Among the mistakes, Mölling says that international organizations supported by the EU allowed themselves to be unilaterally “instrumentalized” in the conflict.
In the past, there has been repeated criticism of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNRWA), including Palestinian teaching materials used in schools run by UNRWA in the Gaza Strip. According to the accusation, this teaching material trivializes acts of terrorism as “resistance” and spreads anti-Semitic clichés.
Mölling also misses a “political vision” for the region: “The Europeans are breaking up into individual states here. There is no European agenda and if there is, it is weak.”
Two-state solution the only way?
It is difficult to provide financial support without having an idea of where the region should develop. So Europe must urgently ask itself the question: “Is the two-state solution only the solution because we haven’t thought of another yet? Or because it is the only thing that still works?”
More than two years after the October 7 terrorist attacks and the subsequent Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip, all remaining Israeli hostages were released by Hamas last Monday. Donald Trump’s peace agreement provides for the disarmament of Hamas and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip as further steps. Neither has happened yet.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
