PARIS (Reuters) – World powers need to stop talking about the idea of a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict and instead put forward practical proposals to make it work once the war in Gaza ends, Italy’s foreign minister said on Thursday.
Speaking in Paris after a humanitarian conference on Gaza, Antonio Tajani said Rome had sent a naval hospital ship from Naples on Thursday morning to the region, but he emphasised resolving the conflict would need some more creativity to create a perspective for peace.
“We have to put ideas on the table. I don’t find any other solutions than the United Nations if we want peace,” he told reporters. “We have to move forward and try to convince.”
Tajani suggested that after the war in Gaza had been finished, creating a U.N. peacekeeping mission like in Lebanon could be one area to explore. Italy contributes some 1,300 soldiers in Lebanon.
Diplomats say such an idea would be complicated given Gaza is not a state, the Palestinian Authority is weak, the U.N. Security Council is divided and there is little appetite from Western countries to send troops to the Middle East.
(Reporting by John Irish; Editing by Alex Richardson)
