faced concerted Arab and international demands to freeze all settlement activity in the West Bank and ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza yesterday as the "Quartet" of Middle East peacemakers took stock of a deteriorating situation on the ground and fading hopes for a peace agreement by the end of this year.The only good news so far to come out of this year's biggest international meeting on the ongoing crisis was the possibility of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the dominant political as well as military force in Gaza. However, while that would indeed be good news if it happens (and by that I mean a ceasefire happens, not that it's "agreed to"), the paper described the overall mood as "bleak" and referred to "deepening gloom among the US-backed Arab countries."
Significantly,
[t]he Quartet, comprising the US, EU, US and Russia, expressed "deep concern" at continuing settlement activity by Israel and used the same phrase - one of the sharpest in the diplomatic lexicon - about conditions in the Gaza Strip.I think it unlikely, but just maybe some people in a position to act are finally getting fed up.
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