2023-11-19 01:51:06
As the war between Israel and Hamas has reached its climax, world leaders are already planning for the post-conflict. Joe Biden called on Saturday for a reunification of the West Bank and Gaza Strip after the war, under a “revitalized Palestinian Authority”.
Once Hamas is driven from Palestinian territory, “Gaza and the West Bank should be reunified under the same governance structure, ultimately under a revitalized Palestinian Authority,” the American president wrote in a Tribune published by the daily Washington Post.
“A two-state solution is the only way to ensure the long-term security of the Israeli people and the Palestinian people. Today this prospect seems more distant than ever, but the current crisis makes it more necessary than ever,” said the 80-year-old Democrat.
“Getting there will require commitments from Israelis and Palestinians, as well as the United States and our partners and allies. This work must begin now,” he pleaded.
“Gaza must never again be used as a base for terrorism. There must be no forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, no reoccupation, no siege or blockade, and no reduction of territory,” he said.
Netanyahu not enthusiastic
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded in a press conference that “the Palestinian Authority in its current form was not capable of assuming responsibility for Gaza. “We cannot have a civilian authority in Gaza that supports terrorism, encourages terrorism, finances terrorism and teaches terrorism,” he said.
The president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, who governs the autonomous areas of the West Bank, linked at the beginning of November a return of the Palestinian Authority to the Gaza Strip to a “political settlement” also including the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Israeli settlers in the viewfinder
“The Gaza Strip is an integral part of the State of Palestine, we will take our full responsibilities within the framework of a comprehensive political solution for the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip,” affirmed Mahmoud Abbas while receiving in Ramallah US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
In his column, Joe Biden also threatened to ban visas from “extremist” Israeli settlers who attack civilians in the West Bank. “Extremist violence against Palestinians in the West Bank must stop and those who commit this violence must be held to account,” he insisted.
The American president also repeated his opposition to a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. “As long as Hamas clings to its ideology of destruction, a ceasefire will not be peace. For Hamas members, each ceasefire provides time to replenish rocket stocks, reposition fighters and resume the massacre by attacking innocent people again,” he said.
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