On November 16, 2006, France, Italy and Spain announced a new Middle East peace plan proposed by Spanish Premier José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero during talks with

French president The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (french: Président de la République française), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is ...

Jacques Chirac. Later on, the plan was introduced to

Romano Prodi Romano Antonio Prodi (; born 9 August 1939) is an Italian politician, economist, academic, senior civil servant, and business executive who served as the tenth president of the European Commission from 1999 to 2004. He served twice as Pr ...

, Italy's prime minister who gave his full support to the plan. The peace move came after

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

invaded the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...

in Operation Autumn Clouds.

Plan

The plan is a five-point blueprint for peace between the Israelis and Palestinians. The plan calls for: * an immediate

ceasefire A ceasefire (also known as a truce or armistice), also spelled cease fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be between state act ...

, * an exchange of prisoners, * an international peace conference (similar to the

Madrid Conference of 1991 The Madrid Conference of 1991 was a peace conference, held from 30 October to 1 November 1991 in Madrid, hosted by Spain and co-sponsored by the United States and the Soviet Union. It was an attempt by the international community to revive the ...

, which was held by Spain and led to the Oslo Accords), while it also * backs a prospective Palestinian unity government, and * an international mission in the Gaza Strip to monitor the ceasefire.

Reaction

Senior

Palestinian National Authority The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine,

negotiator Saeb Erekat welcomed the plan in principle, but added that there was no need for a new initiative, but rather that it could serve as a realistic political track to a

two-state solution The two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict envisions an independent State of Palestine alongside the State of Israel, west of the Jordan River. The boundary between the two states is still subject to dispute and negotia ...

. An Israeli official said parts of the plan were being discussed, but that it was not being taken seriously as it was not coordinated with the EU or Israel. Israel supports direct negotiations over an international conference.

References

* * Franco-Italian-Spanish Middle East Peace Plan, 2006 Franco-Italian-Spanish Middle East Peace Plan, 2006 Franco-Italian-Spanish Middle East Peace Plan, 2006 Israeli–Palestinian peace process Peace treaties Proposed treaties France–Italy relations Italy–Spain relations France–Spain relations France–Israel relations France–State of Palestine relations Israel–Italy relations Israel–Spain relations {{Israel-stub

Plan

Reaction

See also

References