Recognising the state of Palestine is an important step towards Palestinian self-determination. But to be impactful, it needs to be accompanied by concrete measures to challenge negative dynamics on both the Israeli and Palestinian sides
To prevent further catastrophic suffering and regional instability, European governments should urgently resume funding UNRWA – the UN agency responsible for supporting Palestinian refugees
The US and UK strike on Houthi targets in Yemen has done little to deter the Iranian-backed group from its attacks in the Red Sea. Europeans should instead launch their own maritime operation, engage in diplomacy, and call for a ceasefire in Gaza
Europeans can act now to help prevent an escalatory cycle in the Middle East and protect key European interests
As the devastation mounts in Gaza, European leaders need to call for a ceasefire and a broader diplomatic track to secure urgent humanitarian objectives, before turning to a realistic post-conflict plan that can address security needs for Israelis and Palestinians
The unfolding war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas is at the precipice of a broader regional conflict. Europeans must urgently join regional efforts to support preventive diplomacy and avoid escalation
In the aftermath of the brutal assault by Hamas, Europeans need to focus on ensuring the war does not spiral out of control
Israel’s operations on the West Bank are a counterproductive way to deal with armed groups. European action should focus on helping to address the drivers of the recent surge of violence.
Recent fighting on Israel’s borders with Lebanon and Syria shows how spiralling Israeli-Palestinian violence could drag the region into a renewed war
Israel’s growing illiberalism cannot be separated from its decades-long subjugation of Palestinians
Europeans should leverage their relationships with the Palestinian Authority to revive Palestinian institutions and reverse the PA’s slide towards authoritarianism
Europeans need to deal with the Middle East as it is rather than as they want it to be, while staying focused on the principles needed to secure longer-term stability
The UN should pursue a “free association” option for Western Sahara – a third way that offers a realistic means of fulfilling Sahrawi self-determination
The EU and the US have a decisive role to play in ensuring the electoral process succeeds. In doing so, they can support Palestinian political renewal and improve prospects for a sustainable peace agreement with Israel.
Instead of its rigid focus on the Oslo peace process, the EU should craft a new peacemaking paradigm based on equality and deoccupation
Introduction War threatens to engulf Gaza’s fragile calm. In each of the three recent conflicts that have shaken the Gaza Strip, fighting between Palestinian factions…
How should the EU respond to the reality of the one-state reality taking hold in Israel-Palestine?
The Oslo Accords have provided political cover for Israel’s creeping occupation and eroded the possibility of Palestinian self-determination
Renewed focus on differentiation one of few hopes for saving the two state solution
The sixth ECFR Foreign Policy Scorecard highlights the EU’s diminishing ability to influence its neighbours, and the neighbourhood’s growing impact on the EU
Recognising the state of Palestine is an important step towards Palestinian self-determination. But to be impactful, it needs to be accompanied by concrete measures to challenge negative dynamics on both the Israeli and Palestinian sides
To prevent further catastrophic suffering and regional instability, European governments should urgently resume funding UNRWA – the UN agency responsible for supporting Palestinian refugees
The US and UK strike on Houthi targets in Yemen has done little to deter the Iranian-backed group from its attacks in the Red Sea. Europeans should instead launch their own maritime operation, engage in diplomacy, and call for a ceasefire in Gaza
Europeans can act now to help prevent an escalatory cycle in the Middle East and protect key European interests
As the devastation mounts in Gaza, European leaders need to call for a ceasefire and a broader diplomatic track to secure urgent humanitarian objectives, before turning to a realistic post-conflict plan that can address security needs for Israelis and Palestinians
The unfolding war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas is at the precipice of a broader regional conflict. Europeans must urgently join regional efforts to support preventive diplomacy and avoid escalation
In the aftermath of the brutal assault by Hamas, Europeans need to focus on ensuring the war does not spiral out of control
Israel’s operations on the West Bank are a counterproductive way to deal with armed groups. European action should focus on helping to address the drivers of the recent surge of violence.
Recent fighting on Israel’s borders with Lebanon and Syria shows how spiralling Israeli-Palestinian violence could drag the region into a renewed war
Israel’s growing illiberalism cannot be separated from its decades-long subjugation of Palestinians
This new ECFR mapping project identifies the spillover effects of the Gaza war in countries across the Middle East
European governments need a deeper engagement strategy to draw these powerful actors into inclusive political processes and power-sharing structures that can help stabilise the region
The eastern Mediterranean is becoming ever more perilous as geopolitical fault lines steadily enmesh the region. These rifts emerge from the Cyprus ‘frozen conflict’, competition for valuable gas fields, and the increasingly entangled wars in Libya and Syria.
Turmoil in the Middle East and north Africa directly affects Europeans. Yet their influence in the region has never been weaker. This project maps Europe’s role across the Middle East and north Africa, making the case that Europeans can do more to leverage their influence in pursuit of core interests
ECFR’s Differentiation Tracker provides a snapshot of third state relations with Israel – and the extent to which these contain a clearly defined territorial definition that explicitly excludes Israeli settlements constructed on occupied territory in line with UNSCR 2334
An ECFR guide to the key disputes threatening to spark a wider Middle Eastern war
This interactive web project charts the constellation of political players as Palestinians approach a period of political change. Over 100 pen portraits reveal new insights into the personalities and power structures that will shape the future of Palestinian politics.
ECFR’s innovative project Two State Stress Test provides a health-check on whether developments across seven different areas are serving to strain or sustain a possible two-state outcome for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Mark Leonard welcomes Hugh Lovatt and Muhammad Shehada to discuss the war in Gaza and the prospects for Palestinian statehood
Mark Leonard welcomes Hugh Lovatt, Julien Barnes-Dacey, and Jeremy Shapiro to discuss the current situation in Gaza and the possible futures of the war
Jeremy Shapiro welcomes Cinzia Bianco and Hugh Lovatt to discuss the role of the Persian Gulf in the ongoing conflict in Gaza
Mark Leonard welcomes Eran Etzion, Julien Barnes-Dacey, and Hugh Lovatt to discuss Hamas’s offensive against Israel and its effects on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the wider Middle East
Discussion about the political shifts from the March Israeli elections and dynamics surrounding the upcoming Palestinian elections
In this special ECFR discussion, MENA Policy Fellow Hugh Lovatt interviews Daniel Seidemann, the Founder of Terrestrial Jerusalem and an Israeli attorney that specialises in…
When US-President Donal Trump revealed his much-awaited plan for peace for Israel and Palestine it was set to solve one of the world's longest-running conflict
Podcast de notre discussion du 19 juin « The future of Israeli-Palestinian conflict: towards annexation and illiberalism? » en présence de Yehuda Shaul,…
Ruth Citrin speaks with Ellie Geranmayeh, Julien Barnes-Dacey and Hugh Lovatt, about the state of play in the MENA region and the considerations for Europeans…
Mark Leonard speaks with ECFR Policy Fellows Hugh Lovatt, Ellie Geranmayeh and Julien Barnes-Dacey about reactions to Trump’s recent recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital…
Do any outside powers have any chance of bringing Russia and Ukraine closer to peace?
The reassuring news is we are not heading towards the third world war
Hugh Lovatt on the self-contained nature of the current conflicts around the world
The reassuring news is we are not heading towards the Third World War
Hugh Lovatt on the Iran-Israel conflict and the likelihood of a world war scenario
It is really not a lack of unity, it is above all a lack of political will within the member countries
Hugh Lovatt on the possible coordinating between the EU and Egypt on the mediations between Hamas and Israel
Hugh Lovett comments on the possible cancellation of the fisheries agreement between the EU and Morocco
Hamas has “always sought to play between the violent and the diplomatic tracks, to shift from one track to the other, whenever it saw its best interests as either”
Hugh Lovatt comments on Hamas leadership not always being unified on its vision