Netanyahu rejects international pressure on peace plan, Palestinian state [View all]
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/02/16/israel-hamas-war-news-gaza-palestine/#link-7ZRCO5WL65BP7OJ646II4ZGVRQ
https://archive.is/8QK5j
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday hit back at international pressure regarding a peace deal and underlined his opposition to a Palestinian state, rejecting the latter prospect as a huge reward for Hamas after the Oct. 7 attack. In a social media statement, Netanyahu said Israel outright rejects international dictates regarding a permanent settlement with the Palestinians. Such an arrangement will be reached only through direct negotiations between the parties, without preconditions.
The Biden administration and a group of its Middle East partners are working on a long-term Israel-Palestinian peace plan that includes a timeline for the creation of a Palestinian state,
The Washington Post reported, which could be announced in the next several weeks. Netanyahu added that Israel continued to oppose the unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state, and that doing do would give a huge reward to unprecedented terrorism and prevent any future peace settlement.
He made the comments after
a call with President Biden, in which the U.S. leader reiterated his position that Israels planned military operation in Rafah should not go ahead without a credible and executable plan to ensure the safety of civilians there. Israeli officials reacted negatively to news of the plan the United States is working on. Bezalel Smotrich, Israels far-right finance minister, wrote on social media in Hebrew that Israel will never agree to this plan, which says that the Palestinians deserve a prize for the terrible massacre they carried out against us: a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.

Itamar Ben Gvir, the far-right Israeli security minister, tweeted: 1,400 are murdered and the world wants to give them a state. Not going to happen! Former Israeli justice minister Gideon Saar, in a speech in Berlin, warned against what he called a dangerous plan taking shape for unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state. The plan will make the conflict intractable, Saar said on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter. The Palestinians will receive recognition in the state without paying the price of compromise.