Belgium’s Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib has told Al Jazeera that “it is crystal clear that the proper answer to this conflict is not a military one”.
“We need to negotiate to activate diplomacy and that’s exactly the message that hundreds, maybe thousands of people are delivering by the demonstration on the street [outside the Conference site]. As responsible politicians, we have to work hard to find an agreement for a two-state solution. This is the only way to tackle this problem properly,” she said outside the Munich Security Conference.
“[At the conference] I have heard that the negotiations are not going well. Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, is saying that he will maybe launch a ground military operation [in Rafah]. This is really alarming,” Lahbib added.
“There are 1.5 million people, a civilian population, who are in very difficult, disastrous situation. Humanitarian access is blocked over there. We must remind that the International Court of Justice decision asking for the humanitarian aid access should be respected.”