"Bilad for All" Foundation: Creeping Annexation and Occupation in the West Bank

SadaNews - Dr. Rula Hardl, Director General of the Bilad for All Foundation, and Yael Barda, Chair of the Participating Authority, participated in the 62nd Munich Security Conference in Germany, which saw the participation of over 60 heads of state and government, experts, specialists, and actors in security, peace, and policy issues worldwide.

In her intervention, Hardl discussed the recent Israeli steps in the West Bank, which constitute a creeping annexation of the occupied territories of '67 and a deepening of the occupation. She also addressed the second phase of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, emphasizing the importance of reconstruction efforts in Gaza and the consolidation of Palestinian governance in the Gaza Strip.

She stressed the need for all of this to be paralleled with a clear political path, a work plan, and a genuine horizon for ending the occupation and ensuring a sustainable solution to the conflict.

During the conference, Hardl discussed existing challenges, emphasizing the need for: "immediate protection for civilians and reconstruction, and the necessity that this is genuinely linked to a time-bound transition towards Palestinian sovereignty."

Hardl held several bilateral sessions on the sidelines of the Munich Conference, notably a session with the UN envoy and Humanitarian Coordinator for Gaza Reconstruction, Dutch Sigrid Kaag, a member of the "Peace Council."

Hardl confirmed the necessity of intensifying international pressure to advance the peace process, asserting that without immediate international efforts towards a specific political horizon within a time frame, all administrative shifts risk entrenching a permanent state of conflict and instability.

In her meeting with Kaag, Hardl presented the "Bilad for All" vision for a political solution, which could be realized within a model of "two states, one homeland," and under a confederate partnership between an independent Palestinian state alongside the state of Israel.

Hardl also held additional sessions with the European Union's Special Envoy for the Middle East Peace Process, Christophe Bigot, and the Deputy President of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and former Jordanian Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Marwan Muasher, as well as an additional session with the Saudi Foreign Ministry.

It is noteworthy that the "Bilad for All" Foundation's participation in the Munich Security Conference, the world's foremost platform for discussing security and peace issues, is not its first of its kind, as the foundation has established its presence at several important international forums, recently participating in the Doha Forum and conducting a series of working meetings with decision-makers and officials from around the world to discuss the political solution to end the occupation and resolve the conflict.