Pro-Palestinian sentiments grow but challenges remain

Pro-Palestinian reactions continue to grow all over the world. South Africa led the way within the framework of the International Court of Justice, attempting to stop the war against the Palestinians on the grounds that Israel had violated the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Nicaragua followed suit by calling on the court to halt Germany’s military support for Israel. It may have acted at the instigation of Russia in order to create nuisance for the US.

Meanwhile, Israel is not a party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which may soon issue charges against senior Israeli officials. As a result of Palestine’s accession to the statute in 2015, it was agreed that the court would have jurisdiction over the Occupied Territories, meaning Israelis would be liable for prosecution for any offenses they commit on Palestinian soil.

Now, Turkiye has joined South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice.

Several countries have tried their hand at bringing together the feuding Palestinian factions, but China has turned out to be the most influential. A spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, without directly referring to any initiative that Beijing has undertaken, said that his ministry was supporting the consolidation of the Palestinian Authority and that all Palestinian factions should reach a compromise through dialogue and consultation.

Among the European countries, Ireland has been singled out for its policy in favor of Palestine. It has persistently followed this policy for decades. It will probably maintain it during the present crisis. 

We will have to see whether China will be able to twist Israel’s arm. Its performance on the Iran-Saudi Arabia deal was satisfactory.

Yasar Yakis

China last year undertook a similar initiative to mediate between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Last March, the two countries agreed to normalize their relations when they released a trilateral statement along with the Chinese. They decided they would resume diplomatic relations and reopen their respective embassies and missions within a period not exceeding two months. The Iranian Embassy in Riyadh eventually reopened on June 6, while the Saudi Embassy in Iran reopened on Aug. 9. They also reiterated their commitment to respecting each other’s sovereignty and not interfering in their internal affairs.

Another optimistic note is that, for the first time in decades, a senior Hamas official last month stated that the Islamist movement would lay down its arms and convert itself into a political party if a Palestinian state was established along the 1967 borders. This was an optimistic statement by Khalil Al-Hayya, as Israel has ambitions beyond the present borders.

We will have to see whether China will be able to twist Israel’s arm. Its performance on the Iran-Saudi Arabia deal was satisfactory. The fact that Saudi, Iranian and Chinese leaders appeared in the same photo last year has inspired hope that something similar might happen again. Many people in the West were pleasantly surprised by the Saudi-Iranian conciliation, but others were shocked by the picture.

Other countries took similar initiatives in the past, but the Chinese one was particularly important. With this deal, Beijing proved its ability to arrange an unlikely compromise between feuding parties. This agreement constituted a big surprise in the European capitals, as such an outcome was not expected in such a short period. The Saudi-Iranian agreement came as a surprise for the US as well. CIA Director William Burns openly expressed his disappointment to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. 

The Gaza crisis must have persuaded the opposing Palestinian factions to cooperate, or at least agree to some sort of arrangement.

Yasar Yakis

Palestinians are very much in need of peace. President Mahmoud Abbas visited Xi Jinping last June and the two leaders agreed on establishing a strategic partnership, despite their disproportionate size. Abbas praised Xi’s performance and disclosed his three-point peace plan: The only way to solve the Palestinian question is the establishment of a fully sovereign Palestinian state along the 1967 borders, with its capital in East Jerusalem; Palestine’s economic requirements have to be met and guaranteed; and the peace negotiations should be conducted in good faith.

China stands alone in its endeavors. The Chinese Foreign Ministry implicitly confirmed last week that two delegations from Palestine, one representing Fatah and the other representing Hamas, met in Beijing last month. The two factions have fought each other for almost two decades, since Hamas fighters expelled Fatah from the Gaza Strip in 2007. Hamas is the main force that rules Gaza.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has, meanwhile, openly sided with Israel and tried to promote the Israeli cause in almost all forums where this question was raised.

The present Gaza crisis must have persuaded the two opposing Palestinian factions to cooperate, or at least agree to some sort of arrangement under the umbrella of Chinese sponsorship.

A conciliation between Fatah and Hamas will not be easy to achieve because they are two geographically disconnected entities. Israel and the US have been meticulously working to emphasize this disconnected character of a future Palestinian state. If China can come up with a feasible solution, a future Palestinian state could be recognized. However, it has to be believed that the US has an interest in keeping the Palestinian question unresolved, or at least to solve it in line with Israel’s wishes.

• Yasar Yakis is a former foreign minister of Turkiye and founding member of the ruling AK Party.
X: @yakis_yasar