Israel, US split on two-state solution for Palestinians

Despite otherwise close ties, the two allies publicly aired differences again this week over the two-state solution.

Heavy smoke billows over the Gaza Strip during Israeli bombardment on Thursday. Picture: AFP

Israel bombarded southern Gaza on Friday after it publicly sparred with its main ally the US over the possibility of a Palestinian state, the creation of which Washington sees as the only path to a lasting peace.

Washington supports Israel’s campaign in Gaza, but despite otherwise close ties, the two allies publicly aired differences again this week over the way forward.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken used the World Economic Forum in Davos to renew his call for a “pathway to a Palestinian state”. But Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu again flatly rejected the suggestion on Thursday.

“Israel must have security control over the entire territory west of the Jordan River,” he said. “This is a necessary condition, which contradicts the idea of (Palestinian) sovereignty.”

Mr Netanyahu maintained that “a prime minister in Israel should be able to say no, even to our best friends”.

Washington believes that the creation and recognition of a ­viable Palestinian state is necessary to achieve security for Israel.

“We obviously see things differently,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said when asked about Mr Netanyahu’s comments.

Responding to Mr Netanyahu’s remarks, the official spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said that without an independent Palestinian state “there will be no security and stability in the region”.

“The entire region is on the verge of a volcanic eruption due to the aggressive policies pursued by the Israeli occupation authorities against the Palestinian people and their legitimate rights,” Nabil Abu Rudeineh said, according to the official Wafa news agency.

The Palestinian Authority exercises limited rule in the disputed West Bank, where the Israeli army also carried out raids overnight, notably in Tulkarem.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, who is on a Middle East tour and was in Ramallah this week, said on Friday: “This visit has reaffirmed the Foreign Minister’s view that achieving long-term peace and security for Israel in its region requires the ­establishment of an independent Palestinian state”.

Witnesses reported gunfire and airstrikes early on Friday in Khan Younis, the main city in the south of the Gaza Strip, where ­Israel says many members and leaders of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas are hiding.

The Palestinian Red Crescent reported “intense” artillery fire near the al-Amal hospital, while Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said 77 people were killed and dozens injured overnight.

The Israeli military said its Givati Brigade was fighting as far south as its troops had reached so far in the campaign. “The soldiers eliminated dozens of terrorists in close-quarters combat and with the assistance of tank fire and air support,” it said.

The UN says the war, which began with the unprecedented Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, has displaced about 85 per cent of Gaza’s 2.4 million people. Many are crowded into shelters where they struggle for food, water, fuel and medical care. The UN says improved aid access is needed urgently as famine and disease loom.

Hamas’s October 7 attacks ­resulted in the deaths of about 1200 people in Israel, most of them civilians. Militants also seized about 250 hostages during the attacks, around 132 of whom Israel says remain in Gaza. At least 27 hostages are believed to have been killed.

Israel has vowed to “annihilate” Hamas in response and its ­relentless air and ground offensive has killed at least 24,620 Palestinians, about 70 per cent of them women, children and adolescents, according to figures from the Hamas-run health ministry.

“We will not be satisfied with anything less than total victory,” Mr Netanyahu said on Thursday, warning that “victory will take many months”.

Total victory meant “the elimination of terrorist leaders, the ­destruction of Hamas’s operational and military capabilities, the return of our hostages to their homes”, as well as the demilitarisation of Gaza, he said.

AFP