'We will not settle': Benjamin Netanyahu rejects calls from US for Palestinian state
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he has informed the United States that he opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state as part of any postwar scenario.
In a nationally televised news conference, Mr Netanyahu repeatedly said that Israel would not halt its offensive until it realises its goals of destroying Gaza’s Hamas group and bringing home all remaining hostages.
He rejected claims by Israeli critics that those goals are not achievable, vowing to press ahead for many months.
“We will not settle for anything short of an absolute victory,” Mr Netanyahu said.
The Israel-Hamas war is in its third month, after Hamas launched an unprecedented cross-border attack on October 7 which saw 1,200 people killed and approximately 250 more taken hostage. Roughly 130 hostages are believed to remain in Hamas captivity.
Israel's assault, one of the deadliest military campaigns in recent history, has killed nearly 25,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, caused widespread destruction and uprooted over 2.3 million people from their homes.
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Mr Netanyahu spoke just a day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Israel would never have “genuine security” without a pathway toward Palestinian independence.
Even as one of Israel's staunchest allies, the US has also called for steps toward the establishment of a Palestinian state.
It has said the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority, which governs semi-autonomous zones in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, should be “revitalized” and return to Gaza.
Hamas ousted the authority from Gaza in 2007.
UK Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer hit out at Mr Netanyahu on Friday, insisting "Palestinian statehood is not in the gift of a neighbour, it's the inalienable right of the Palestinian people".
Mr Netanyahu, who leads a far-right government opposed to Palestinian statehood, repeated his longstanding opposition to a two-state solution.
He said a Palestinian state would become a launching pad for attacks on Israel.
He said Israel "must have security control over the entire territory west of the Jordan River,” adding: “That collides with the idea of sovereignty. What can we do?”
“This truth I tell to our American friends, and I put the brakes on the attempt to coerce us to a reality that would endanger the state of Israel,” he said.
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