Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused the Biden White House’s request to have the Palestinian Authority rule over Gaza at the end of the current conflict. The news comes after the administration is coming under pressure from left-wing members of Congress and staff to pressure Israel into a ceasefire.
Netanyahu responded to a recent Washington Post op-ed written by President Joe Biden. Biden requested a “two-state solution” to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
He wrote that both the West Bank and Gaza should be ruled “under a single governance structure.”
Such a solution would hand the small territory to the rule of the Palestinian Authority, which currently rules the West Bank.
Netanyahu responded by stating that after the “destruction of Hamas, and for a long time thereafter, there will not be a regime that encourages terror, that teaches terror, that funds terror.”
He added that the Palestinian Authority would not be acceptable because it “indoctrinates about the destruction of Israel and the murder of Jews.”
The Palestinian Authority pays funds to terrorists in Israeli prisons and pensions to Palestinian fighters’ families.
Israel unilaterally ended its occupation of Gaza in 2005, allowing the territory to govern itself. However, the region’s population elected the Hamas terrorist organization as its leadership. The Palestinian Authority had been the main government of the region until 2007.
Israel is reportedly considering a short ceasefire in the ongoing conflict in exchange for the release of some of the hundreds held hostage by Hamas.
The potential agreement would see 50 women and children released in exchange for a five-day pause in the conflict.
Israeli forces have captured much of the Gaza Strip’s populous north, though Israeli leadership reportedly believes that many of the Hamas fighters and hostages are in the southern part of the region.
IDF chief approves next battle plans in Gaza, @WallaNews reports; military sources say plans include assault on southern Gaza, subject to Netanyahu’s final approval. Israel believes Hamas chiefs & thousands of terrorists are hiding in south.
— Israel Radar (@IsraelRadar_com) November 19, 2023
The Israel Defense Force (IDF) has much of the northern part of Gaza effectively surrounded and has succeeded in releasing several hostages as the conflict continues into its second month.
