For years now, most countries have de-prioritised the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and occupation because they don’t know how to solve it and they hope it’s becoming less relevant. Most Western countries support the two state solution as a rhetorical and legal position rather... ...than an active initiative that they’re working for. Most European states can’t see any viable alternative to two states, but can’t see two states being implemented by the actors on the ground, given Netanyahu openly says he won’t countenance it and given Hamas’s positions.

Here is the text of the Bahrain-Israel declaration of peace, in which they agree to establish diplomatic relations and reach agreements to cooperate in various economic sectors, health and the environment - whitehouse.gov/briefings-stat… They agree to eschew threats and the use of force, which should be easy as they have absolutely zero history of using threats of force against each other.

With the naming of Sayyid Haitham as the new Sultan of Oman, the long-standing uncertainty over Oman’s succession is gone. But inevitably; as Oman’s sole ruler in the fifty years since independence, Sultan Qaboos is a hard act to follow. The new Sultan inherits a host of economic challenges as Oman struggles to wean itself from its traditional dependence on oil-fuelled public spending, and faces entrenched high expectations that the state will provide jobs and services for the youth.