Two-state solution not an option
Netanyahu rejects US efforts
January 19, 2024, 7:36 a.m
While the USA is campaigning for an independent state for the Palestinians, this is rejected by the Israeli head of government. He doesn’t want to give up control of territories – for a specific reason.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected a Palestinian state after the end of the Gaza war, in open contradiction to the USA. Referring to a two-state solution at the urging of the US, Netanyahu said: “Israel’s prime minister must be able to say ‘no’ when necessary, even to our best friends.”
Looking at possible scenarios after the Gaza war, the Israeli prime minister emphasized that any solution in the foreseeable future must include Israel’s military control over the entire West Bank. He admitted that this contradicts the idea of the sovereignty of a Palestinian state and continued: “What can you do?” He also tells his American friends this truth.
“From every area we withdraw from, we get terror, terrible terror,” said the right-wing politician. This happened in southern Lebanon, the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank. That’s why control in the West Bank is so important.
Blinken promotes two-state solution
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made it clear at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week that a lasting solution for the region must include the vision of a Palestinian state. Otherwise, Israel will not have any real security. Many Arab and Muslim countries have recently changed their attitude towards Israel and are now interested in stable relations. Israel must decide in which direction it wants to develop.
Meanwhile, three rockets were fired from Syria at the Golan Heights on Thursday evening, according to Israeli military sources. When asked, the Israeli army said the bullets from the neighboring country struck both in open areas near a community in the area and on a country road. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights in London, militias working with Hezbollah in Lebanon fired the projectiles towards the Israeli-occupied part of the Golan Heights.
Mutual shelling also broke out again on the border between Lebanon and Israel. On Thursday there were several rockets fired at Israeli towns and communities on the border with its neighboring country to the north, the Israeli military said. Army fighter jets then attacked terrorist infrastructure and Hezbollah militia posts in southern Lebanon, it said.