Israel’s Netanyahu tells Biden he’s opposed to Palestinian sovereignty in Gaza
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his policy in a phone call with US President Joe Biden that after Hamas is destroyed, Israel must retain security control over Gaza.
PHOTO: NYTIMES
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JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Jan 20 he told US President Joe Biden that he rejected Palestinian sovereignty in the Gaza Strip, in a call the day before.
The two leaders spoke by phone on Jan 19 for the first time in nearly a month, with Mr Biden saying following the call that he believed it was still possible Mr Netanyahu could agree to some form of Palestinian state.
“In his conversation with President Biden, Prime Minister Netanyahu reiterated his policy that after Hamas is destroyed Israel must retain security control over Gaza to ensure that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel, a requirement that contradicts the demand for Palestinian sovereignty,” Mr Netanyahu’s office said, in a statement issued on Jan 20.
On Jan 18, Mr Netanyahu had rejected Palestinian sovereignty over the occupied West Bank, saying it was incompatible with Israel’s need to have “security control over all the territory west of the (River) Jordan”.
Mr Biden had said after the call on Jan 19 that it was possible Mr Netanyahu could come round to some form of two-state solution, seen for decades by diplomats as the best way to bring peace to the Middle East.
“There are a number of types of two-state solutions. There’s a number of countries that are members of the UN that... don’t have their own militaries,” Mr Biden told reporters, after an event at the White House.
A senior Hamas official on Jan 20 dismissed Mr Biden’s comments about the possibility of Israel agreeing to the establishment of a Palestinian state.
“The illusion that Biden is preaching about a state of Palestine and its characteristics does not fool our people,” Mr Izzat al-Rishq, a member of the Islamist group’s political bureau, said in a statement.
“Biden is a full partner in the genocidal war and our people do not expect any good from him.”
Mr Netanyahu has pledged to destroy Hamas and demilitarise Gaza following the Palestinian Islamist group’s Oct 7 attack on Israel,
Hamas’ attack resulted in the death of about 1,140 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Israel has been conducting a relentless air and ground offensive
