JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and members of his government underscored their opposition to a Palestinian state ahead of a UN Security Council vote Monday on a resolution endorsing a US-backed Gaza peace plan.
The draft resolution would follow up on the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas brokered by US President Donald Trump, giving the council’s blessing for a transitional administration and a temporary international security force in the devastated territory.
Unlike previous drafts, the latest version of the resolution mentions a possible future Palestinian state, which the Israeli government is vehemently against.
“Our opposition to a Palestinian state on any territory has not changed,” Netanyahu said at a cabinet meeting on Sunday.
Netanyahu had come in for criticism from coalition members, including far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who had accused him of failing to respond to a recent wave of recognition of Palestinian statehood by Western countries.
“Formulate immediately an appropriate and decisive response that will make it clear to the entire world – no Palestinian state will ever arise on the lands of our homeland,” Smotrich urged Netanyahu on X.
The premier replied Sunday that he did “not need affirmations, tweets, or lectures from anyone.”
Other ministers likewise expressed their opposition to Palestinian statehood, though none explicitly referred to the resolution.
“Israel’s policy is clear: no Palestinian state will be established,” Defense Minister Israel Katz wrote on X Sunday.
Foreign Minister Gideon Saar also said on X that the country would “not agree to the establishment of a Palestinian terror state in the heart of the Land of Israel.”
Far-right firebrand and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir went even further, calling the Palestinian identity an “invention.”
The Security Council resolution would effectively usher in the second phase of the US-backed deal reached last month, which brought about a ceasefire after two years of war sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
The first phase has seen the release of the last 20 living Israeli hostages and nearly all of the 28 dead captives held by Palestinian militants.
In exchange, Israel has freed nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and returned 330 bodies.
Israeli leaders voice opposition to Palestinian state before UN Gaza vote
https://arab.news/j8pq8
Israeli leaders voice opposition to Palestinian state before UN Gaza vote
- The draft resolution would follow up on the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas
- Unlike previous drafts, the latest version of the resolution mentions a possible future Palestinian state
Lebanon urges UNSC delegation to press Israel to respect ceasefire
- Israel has kept up strikes on Lebanon and has also maintained troops in five south Lebanon areas it deems strategic
BEIRUT: Lebanese President Joseph Aoun urged a United Nations Security Council delegation on Friday to pressure Israel to respect a year-old ceasefire and to support his army’s efforts to disarm Hezbollah.
Despite a November 2024 ceasefire that was supposed to end more than a year of hostilities between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group, Israel has kept up strikes on Lebanon and has also maintained troops in five south Lebanon areas it deems strategic.
Aoun “stressed the need to pressure the Israeli side to implement the ceasefire and withdraw, and expressed his hope for pressure from the delegation,” according to a statement from the presidency.
He also noted “Lebanon’s commitment to implementing international resolutions” and asked the envoys to support the Lebanese army’s efforts to disarm non-government groups.
The Lebanese government ordered its military to fully disarm Hezbollah in August, and the army expects to complete the first phase of its plan by the end of the year.
The UN delegation visited Damascus on Thursday and after its meeting with Aoun was due to inspect the border area in southern Lebanon on Saturday, accompanied by US envoy Morgan Ortagus.
The visit comes as Lebanese and Israeli civilian representatives held their first direct talks in decades.
On Thursday, Information Minister Paul Morcos quoted Aoun calling the initial negotiations “positive” and stressing “the need for the language of negotiation — not the language of war — to prevail.”
That same day, Israel struck four southern Lebanese towns, saying it was targeting Hezbollah infrastructure including weapons depots to stop the group from rearming.
UN peacekeepers called the strikes “clear violations of Security Council resolution 1701,” which ended the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel.
The peacekeepers also said their vehicles were fired on by six men on three mopeds near Bint Jbeil on Thursday. There were no injuries in the incident.
“Attacks on peacekeepers are unacceptable and serious violations of resolution 1701,” the international force added.
Hezbollah refuses to disarm but has not responded to Israeli attacks since the ceasefire. It has, however, promised a response to the killing of its military chief in a strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs last month.
