EuroWire, BRUSSELS: More than 60 countries gathered in Brussels on Monday for talks aimed at reviving the two-state solution, as the European Union and Arab partners sought to keep diplomatic focus on Gaza and the occupied West Bank amid deepening international concern. The meeting was the ninth session of the Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution and was co-hosted by EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot. Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa joined the discussions, which were followed by the donor-focused Ad Hoc Liaison Committee.
The Brussels meetings brought together European and Arab participants at a time of mounting concern over the devastation in Gaza, financial pressure on the Palestinian Authority and continued tensions in the West Bank. Officials presented the gathering as an effort to connect political diplomacy with governance and reconstruction planning. Kallas said the meetings were designed to keep Gaza and the West Bank at the center of international diplomacy, even as wider regional crises have competed for attention and strained efforts to sustain a peace process.
In remarks after the sessions, Kallas said both sides would have to take concrete steps for a two-state solution to remain viable. She said Israel must stop settlement expansion, punish settler violence and release withheld Palestinian tax revenues, while the Palestinian Authority must move ahead with reforms. She also said Hamas’ refusal to disarm remained a major obstacle to peace and that Palestinian police and an international stabilization force should deploy in Gaza quickly to prevent any further consolidation of Hamas control.
Brussels links aid and governance
Mustafa used the Brussels forum to call for unified Palestinian governance in Gaza under one government, one law and one security structure. He also called for the gradual collection of weapons from armed groups and a full Israeli withdrawal from the territory. The Palestinian Authority was central to the donor talks that followed, which were chaired by Norway with the European Union as co-host. Those discussions focused on preserving basic services, supporting institutional stability and addressing urgent financing needs in Gaza and the West Bank.
The donor meeting took place against the backdrop of a new Gaza Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment prepared by the World Bank, the European Union and the United Nations. The assessment estimated recovery and reconstruction needs at about $71.4 billion over the next decade, including $26.3 billion required in the first 18 months. It said direct physical damage had reached $35.2 billion and economic losses $22.7 billion, highlighting the scale of rebuilding required across housing, health, transport, water systems and other essential sectors.
Diplomatic pressure builds
The Brussels sessions also reflected a wider European effort to align humanitarian support, institution-building and diplomacy more closely. The European Union says it remains the largest donor to the Palestinians and the main backer of the Palestinian Authority, while pressing for reforms and continuing to support a two-state framework. Belgium said continued destruction in Gaza and attacks by settlers in the West Bank were making that outcome harder to achieve, but said European and Arab partners still regarded it as the basis for a lasting settlement.
Monday’s talks did not produce a final political agreement, but they brought diplomats, donor governments and Palestinian officials into the same forum to coordinate work on security, governance and reconstruction. By pairing the Global Alliance meeting with the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee session, the Brussels gathering placed the political track and the financial track side by side as concern over Gaza and the West Bank intensified. The meetings also reinforced Brussels as a venue for renewed two-state diplomacy and Palestinian recovery planning.