The former Minister of Foreign Affairs, guest on France Inter, regrets that international authorities have no weight in this conflict between Israel and Hamas.
“Nothing can stop the battle for Gaza”, said this Sunday on France Inter Hubert Védrine, former Minister of Foreign Affairs. More than a week after the Hamas attack in Israel, the Israeli army is preparing to launch a major offensive on Gaza as residents of the territory flee south.
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“If external pressure worked, we wouldn’t be here. If the pseudo international community worked, we wouldn’t be here. We have to be realistic and know that nothing can prevent the battle for Gaza.”regrets Hubert Védrine.
According to him, it is still too early to talk about dialogue between the two parties: “Even the most pacifist Israelis, even the most far-sighted, know well that the Israeli army has no other choice but to go and destroy the armed wing of Hamas”he assures.
The Oslo Accords “systematically trampled”
The former Minister of Foreign Affairs of France remains very bitter. The Oslo Accords,“It was 30 years ago, a peace process that was systematically sabotaged by extremists on both sideshe regretted. It’s revolting because all this process, all these efforts, all these years, was to prevent this, to prevent these abominations. I am outraged!”he says.
The former minister believes that after “this terrible sequence” from the moment, will germinate “the idea that we still have to find solutions”. But he has no illusions: “They will be fought with the same calculated, diabolical and cynical efficiencyhe said. Remember the assassination of Itzhak Rabin by a fanatical Jew. Remember the bombs on school buses in Israel every time there was a process restarting.”
Expect nothing from the United States
According to Hubert Védrine, we should not expect anything from the United States which “never understood anything” to the situation in the Middle East. “They did exactly the opposite of what they should have done. They should have taken the lead, 30 or 40 years ago, in the peace process instead of aligning themselves with the hardest branch, the most extremist, the most nationalist of Israelis”he analyzes.
So who can relaunch a peace process, at least the beginning of a dialogue? “It will come from Israelis who will say: ‘We did the right thing in Gaza. It was terrible, it had to be done, but we can’t stop there.’ political and moral or philosophical voices in Israel say that a solution must still be found.”