Pressure mounting on the Israeli government for a two-state solution

2024-01-21 16:20:33, Kosova & Bota CNA

Pressure mounting on the Israeli government for a two-state solution

Benjamin Netanyahu

Gaza's Health Ministry announced that the number of Palestinian casualties in Gaza during the more than three-month war between Israel and Hamas militants has reached 25,000. Meanwhile, pressure has increased on the Israeli government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept a "two-state solution". The Secretary General of the United Nations and the Defense Minister of the United Kingdom said they were disappointed by Prime Minister Netanyahu's statements not accepting a future Palestinian state.

Pressure has grown on the Israeli government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept the creation of a future Palestinian state. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Sunday that the refusal to accept the two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians is completely unacceptable.

According to him, denying the right to citizenship to Palestinians "would indefinitely prolong a conflict that has become a major threat to global peace and security." He said it is sad to see the high number of Palestinian civilians killed in the Gaza Strip.

"Israel's military operations have spread mass destruction and killed civilians on an unprecedented scale during my time as Secretary-General," Guterres said at the opening of a meeting in Uganda's capital, Kampala.

In the same line was the defense minister of the United Kingdom.

"I think it is very disappointing that Benjamin Netanyahu has not accepted it. It is not surprising since he has built his entire political career against a two-state solution. But the point is, what other way is there to solve this problem? The Palestinians deserve a sovereign state, Israel deserves to have the full ability to defend itself, its security. And unless a two-state solution is reached, I really don't think there is another solution," said Grant Shapps, the UK's defense minister, in an interview with the BBC.

Prime Minister Netanyahu appeared on Saturday to contradict US President Joe Biden's statements about a Palestinian state after the end of the war against Hamas in Gaza.

Mr. Biden said on Friday that he had spoken in a phone call with Mr. Netanyahu about possible solutions to the creation of an independent Palestinian state, suggesting that an alternative could be a demilitarized government.

"In his conversation with President Biden, Prime Minister Netanyahu reiterated his position that once Hamas is destroyed, Israel must maintain security control over Gaza to ensure that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel, which contradicts the demand for Palestinian sovereignty," said a statement from the Israeli prime minister's office.

In another development, the Gaza Ministry of Health announced that the number of Palestinian casualties in Gaza during the more than three months of war between Israel and Hamas militants has reached 25,000.

Meanwhile, the Israeli army published another video, which claims to have discovered another network of tunnels in Gaza, where it is suspected that Hamas was holding about 20 hostages. According to the Israeli army, the network of tunnels is about a kilometer long, equipped with small cells, and even had a kitchen. Reuters news agency says it was unable to independently verify the location or date this video was filmed. An Israeli army spokesman said the tunnel's entrance was at the home of a Hamas member in southern Gaza City, Khan Younis.

The war began after Hamas's surprise attack on Israel on October 7, in which Hamas militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took about 250 hostages, including men, women and children. Israel responded with an air campaign and then a ground attack that leveled entire neighborhoods./ VOA