On Thursday, in a historic move and for the first time since October 7, the European Parliament voted for a “ceasefire” in Gaza, conditioning it with “releasing all hostages taken since the start of the war,” and demilitarization of Gaza, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu simultaneously rejected U.S. plans for officially recognizing Palestine as a State.
Three hundred twelve MEPs voted in favor, 131 voted against, and 72 abstained; however, no information on how each MEP voted on the final wording will be made public because no political entity has as of yet requested those details.
The narrow vote was a success for the political right in Parliament, as the center-right European People’s Party faction threatened to withdraw support for the text unless the cease-fire demand was expressly tied to those two requirements.
Palestine’s Deputy Head of Mission Adel Atieh said there are “positive” aspects of the vote, such as its call to end Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories and support for the work of the International Court of Justice.
Netanyahu took a tough tone, repeatedly stating on Thursday that Israel would not stop its offensive until it achieved its aims of crushing Hamas and bringing home all remaining prisoners in Gaza. He has expressed frustration and defiance at the United States’ attempt to moderate Israel’s tone and its actions in the current conflict, and last week even indicated that should the ICJ determine that it has indeed been committing acts of genocide, the final determination would be irrelevant to Israel’s course of action, anyway.
Speaking on Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated in the Davos Forum that the two-state solution was the best approach to safeguard Israel, unite moderate Arab countries, and isolate Iran, Israel’s arch-enemy.
At the same conference, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan al Saud stated that his nation was willing to develop full ties with Israel as part of a political accord, but this could only happen “through peace for the Palestinians, through a Palestinian state.”