In his speech to the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz also referred to the construction of an artificial island in the Mediterranean that will serve as a port but also to accommodate Palestinians from Gaza. As AGI has learned from diplomatic sources, the proposal has received no response from European ministers at the table. “It is an old project and was presented more to show the intention to work on a solution for the Palestinians for some time,” a diplomatic source explained.
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As expected, the proposal was not well received by the opposing side. Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Malki rejects the Israeli hypothesis of building an artificial island to accommodate Palestinians from Gaza: “We don't need an island, neither natural nor artificial.” We remain in our land. The land of Palestine is ours, our priority and we will stay there. And we don't let anyone think otherwise. Anyone who wants to get away to live on artificial or natural islands can go there. Who thinks that? We, the owners of this land, will stay there and resist staying there to defend our right to have a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.”
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