Netanyahu insists on no Palestinian state ahead of UN vote
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Sunday to oppose any attempt to establish a Palestinian state, a day before the U.N. Security Council votes on an American resolution that leaves the door open to Palestinian independence.
Netanyahu has long rejected Palestinian independence. But the Israeli leader faces heavy international pressure to show flexibility as the United States tries to advance its Gaza ceasefire proposal.
The UN Security Council is expected to vote on the US proposal for a UN mandate on Monday. international stabilization force In Gaza, despite the opposition of Russia, China and some Arab countries.
The United States, under international pressure from countries expected to contribute troops to the force, revised the resolution with stronger language on Palestinians’ right to self-determination. It is now said that Trump’s plan could create a “credible path” to a Palestinian state. A rival Russian proposal uses even harsher language in favor of a Palestinian state.
Netanyahu’s hard-line governing partners have urged him to take a hard line on calls for Palestinian independence. Speaking to his cabinet on Sunday, Netanyahu said Israel’s opposition to a Palestinian state “has not changed one bit.”
Netanyahu added that he has blocked any progress towards a Palestinian state for decades and is not threatened by any internal or external pressure. “I don’t need anyone’s approval, tweets or lectures,” he said.
Netanyahu also noted that Trump’s plan calls for the demilitarization of Gaza and the disarmament of Hamas. “This will either happen the easy way or the hard way,” he said.
The Israeli leader also made his first public comment about an increase in violence Attacks by Jewish settlers He said violence in the occupied West Bank was the work of a small minority. Palestinians and human rights groups said violence was widespread and accused the government of turning a blind eye.
Settler attacks on the rise
Violence is on the rise in the West Bank, where Palestinian health officials said a 19-year-old Palestinian man was killed by Israeli military fire on Sunday.
He was the seventh person killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank in the past two weeks. The increase in violence is accompanied by an increase in settler attacks.
The Israeli army said it was operating in Nablus, in the northern West Bank, in the early hours of Sunday morning, when the man threw explosives at soldiers, who fired in response and killed him.
In addition to Sunday’s clashes, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in the West Bank said six teenagers, ages 15 to 17, were shot and killed by Israeli fire in four separate incidents in the past two weeks.
On Sunday, Netanyahu portrayed the settler violence as the work of a few extremists. But Palestinians and rights groups say settler violence is widespread and Israel’s far-right government is run by settlers with impunity. Settler leaders and their allies hold senior positions in Netanyahu’s government, including the national police force and Cabinet ministers who oversee settlement policies in the West Bank.
WE Secretary of State Marco Rubio He said last week there were concerns that events in the West Bank “could undermine what we’re doing in Gaza.”
The UN recorded more than 260 attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians and their property in the West Bank in October, more than in any month since 2006, said Thameen Al-Kheetan, a spokeswoman for the UN Commissioner for Human Rights.
