Israel’s prime minister rejects Palestinian sovereignty over Gaza and the occupied territory, pushing back against President Biden’s push for a two-state solution.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his opposition to an independent Palestinian state, saying his country needs full security control over the Palestinian territories, pushing back against US President Joe Biden’s stance on the issue.
“I will not compromise on full Israeli security control over the entire area west of Jordan – and this is contrary to a Palestinian state,” Netanyahu posted on X on Saturday evening, doubling down on his opposition to a Palestinian state the next day. speaking to the US president, who offered his unconditional support to Israel in its war against the Gaza Strip, during a phone call.
Biden said Friday he had discussed possible solutions with Netanyahu for the creation of an independent Palestinian state, suggesting one path could involve a non-militarized government.
Biden’s call with Netanyahu was the first in nearly a month, the White House said. Asked if a two-state solution was “impossible” while Netanyahu was in power, Biden replied: “No, it’s not.”
But in a statement, the Israeli prime minister’s office said Netanyahu told Biden that “after the destruction of Hamas, Israel must retain security control over Gaza to ensure that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel, a a requirement that contradicts the demand for Palestinian sovereignty.” .
Netanyahu is under pressure to appease members of his far-right ruling coalition by escalating the war against the besieged Palestinian enclave, killing more than 165 people in the past 24 hours. Nearly 25,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed in relentless bombardments since October 7.
He has expressed opposition to any Palestinian state several times since the launch of the war on Gaza, deferring to the Biden administration’s stance on the issue.
Britain said Sunday that Netanyahu’s opposition to Palestinian sovereignty was “disappointing.”
“I think it’s actually disappointing to hear that from the Israeli prime minister,” Defense Secretary Grant Shapps told Sky News.
Meanwhile, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Sunday that “the denial of the right to statehood for the Palestinian people” was “unacceptable.”
“The right of the Palestinian people to build their own state must be recognized by all,” he posted on X.
U.S.-backed peace talks for the so-called “two-state solution,” which would see Israel coexist with a Palestinian state in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, collapsed a year ago. ten years.
On Thursday, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said there was no way to resolve Israel’s long-term security problems and the short-term challenges of rebuilding Gaza without the creation of a Palestinian state.
Miller said Israel now had an opportunity since regional countries were willing to give it security guarantees.
“Complete Victory”
Netanyahu says Israel must fight until it achieves “complete victory” and Hamas no longer poses a threat, but has not specified how this will be accomplished. Hamas has ruled Gaza since 2007, when Israel imposed a land, sea and air blockade on the enclave of 2.3 million people.
But a member of Israel’s war cabinet, former army chief Gadi Eisenkot, called the ceasefire the only way to ensure the release of captives, a comment that implied criticism of the current strategy of ‘Israel.
Critics have accused Netanyahu of preventing a ministerial-level debate on a post-war scenario for Gaza. They say he is procrastinating to avoid conflict within his coalition. Netanyahu’s office called the assertion that he was unnecessarily prolonging the war “completely absurd.”
Israel launched its war on Gaza after the Hamas group’s unprecedented Oct. 7 attacks that killed about 1,100 people, mostly civilians, in Israel and took about 250 more prisoners.
In a sign of the pressure Netanyahu’s government faces at home, thousands of Israelis demonstrated in Tel Aviv on Saturday, calling for new elections, and others demonstrated outside the prime minister’s house, joining the families of the most of 100 remaining prisoners held by Hamas and others. fighters.
They fear that Israeli military activity will further endanger the lives of the captives.
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