A clear and unequivocal NO statement to a Palestinian state, so that the message reaches the UN clearly and clearly. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar reiterated this unanimously, while uncertainty still surrounds the vote in the UN Security Council on a draft resolution for the future of Gaza promoted by the United States. “There will never be a Palestinian state west of the Jordan River,” stressed the three leaders summoned by Netanyahu on Sunday to address the Security Cabinet on the topic. Israel is making every effort to remove or water down the section that in the American text speaks of a “credible path to Palestinian self-determination and statehood.” At the same time, Washington was engaged in intense diplomatic efforts at the UN to pass the resolution, which was threatened by a counter-proposal from Russia, which also contained clear references to a two-state solution and made no mention of the demilitarization of Hamas. Therefore, there remains a dispute over a Palestinian state, which Saudi Arabia also considers a fundamental condition for the normalization of relations with Israel, which is the US goal at the end of the Trump mandate but, according to Haaretz sources, will not be achievable by Riyadh as long as the Netanyahu government is still in power.
Fierce negotiations are underway to outline the second phase of a Gaza peace plan, after the bodies of the last three hostages returned to Israel. Fears of a return to the use of weapons remain, while more aid is expected in the Gaza Strip, 93% of the 135,000 tents for refugees are uninhabitable due to rain and the death toll is approaching 70,000.
The situation also remains very tense on the Lebanese front, where there was a new “mistaken” attack by the IDF, the Israeli Armed Forces, against Unifil, a UN peacekeeping mission involving around 1,200 Italian troops.
The Tsahal (Israeli army) opened fire on two soldiers after identifying them as a suspicious threat, but later explained that they made a mistake “due to bad weather conditions”. No one was injured, but Lebanon is an example of what is to come in Gaza, waiting for the International Stabilization Force (ISF) which has yet to see the light of day and will have to deal with the disarmament of Hamas and the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip, conditions that Netanyahu believes will be achieved at all costs.
Defense Minister Katz explained that the IDF will maintain its presence in the strategic area of Gaza and elsewhere. For Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, the army must be ready “for a rapid transition to a major offensive to conquer territory in the Gaza Strip, on the other side of the Yellow Line”, to prevent the rebirth of Hamas. The general’s announcement comes as there have been persistent predictions of a Berlin Wall-like scenario. What does it mean? The Gaza Strip is divided in two, with the territory beyond the Yellow Line, where the Israeli army withdrew, controlled by the IDF and where America intends to begin reconstruction, and the rest of the territory controlled by the Palestinians or worse by Hamas.
Tensions were also high in the West Bank, where a 19-year-old boy was killed in Nablus after throwing a bomb at soldiers, and another Palestinian south of Jenin.
Regarding settler violence, Netanyahu promised to take action against unrest which he said was caused by “minorities”. The government also authorized a commission of inquiry on October 7, 2023. There are still doubts about its independence. In fact, it is a government commission whose mandate is determined by ministers.
