Guyana Welcomes New Peace Plan Outlined By US to End Israel/Hamas War
GEORGETOWN, Guyana – Guyana is urging the international community to redouble its efforts to get a peace brokered between Israel and Hamas, saying it is important to find a lasting solution to ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestine.
The United States last weekend announced a ceasefire proposal to take effect within six weeks, but Israel says it won’t accept Hamas’s rule of Gaza and is examining alternatives.
“While we conduct our important military actions, the defence establishment is simultaneously assessing a governing alternative to Hamas,” Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said in a statement on Sunday.
Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir have vowed to quit the Benjamin Netanyahu-led government if the ceasefire proposal is accepted.
“The deal … means the end of the war and the abandonment of the goal to destroy Hamas. This is a reckless deal that constitutes a victory for terrorism and a security threat to the state of Israel,” said Ben-Gvir.
The latest flare up occurred last October when Hamas militants invaded the Israeli border, killing thousands holding several others hostage. Israel has retaliated and in the process had killed thousands of Palestinians, flattened several cities and is also preparing to invade more of the Palestinian homeland.
Hamas has already indicated its willingness to accept the peace plan outlined by President Joe Bien, only if Tel Aviv agrees.
In a statement, the Guyana government, which is among several Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries urging recognition of Palestine as a separate state, said that it has “taken careful note of the proposed three-phase deal” announced by President Biden.
“ We have noted that the proposal aligns in several ways with previous decisions taken by the United Nations Security Council and the General Assembly to end the war, and which Guyana supported.
“These include an immediate and sustained ceasefire, the unconditional release of hostages, the rapid scaling up of humanitarian aid into Gaza and the importance of developing a robust reconstruction plan for Gaza. Guyana reiterates that investments in the reconstruction plan would require strong security guarantees,” Guyana said in its statement.
“The Government of Guyana further underscores the importance of achieving a just and lasting solution to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict which has persisted for over seven decades.”
Georgetown said the “only viable solution to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict is through the full implementation of the two state solution with the creation of a free and independent State of Palestine based on the pre1967 borders, living peacefully alongside the State of Israel”.
Guyana said it is urging the international community ”to redouble its efforts to this end, bringing an end to the decades of bloodshed and insecurity that have characterized the Israeli/Palestinian conflict”.
