At a delicate moment in relations with the international community due to the fight against Hamas and the worsening humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won a significant victory in parliament yesterday. With the votes of 99 of the 120 MPs, including the opposition, the Knesset approved a resolution proposed by the prime minister against any “unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state.”
“This historic vote shows our collective resolve,” Netanyahu wrote on social network X, for which the score “sends a clear message to the international community.” “We will not reward terrorism with a unilateral recognition in response to the October 7 massacre, just as we will not accept imposed solutions,” the Prime Minister added.
The vote came just days after the Washington Post reported that the United States and several Arab countries would develop a global peace plan with a timeline for establishing a Palestinian state after the end of the conflict. The resolution emphasizes that “Israel categorically rejects international resolutions on a permanent solution with the Palestinians.” The text emphasizes that the solution can only be achieved “through direct negotiations between the parties and without preconditions.”
The measure, formally presented by the prime minister last Sunday, stipulates that “Israel will continue to oppose the unilateral recognition” of a Palestinian state. “A statement of this nature after the October 7 massacre would enormously reward unprecedented terrorism and hamper any future peace agreement,” he said.
The war was sparked by an incursion from Gaza by Hamas extremists who killed more than 1,160 people, mostly civilians, in southern Israel and kidnapped around 250, according to an AFP survey based on official Israeli data.
Netanyahu's government responded with a bombing campaign and a ground offensive against the Gaza Strip that has so far killed more than 29,000 people, most of them civilians, according to the Hamasruled Palestinian enclave's health ministry.
hunger
The Gaza Strip is the scene of bombings and incessant clashes between Israeli troops and Hamas extremists and is experiencing a serious humanitarian crisis. Between Tuesday and yesterday, 118 deaths were recorded in the Palestinian territory. According to the United Nations, 2.2 million of Gaza's almost 2.4 million residents are at risk of famine.
The situation worsened after the World Food Program (WFP) announced the suspension of deliveries in the north of the territory due to the “violence” and “chaos” there. World Health Organization DirectorGeneral Tedros Adhanom described the “sanitary and humanitarian” situation in Gaza as “inhumane.”
The Palestinian Red Crescent called on United Nations institutions to “intensify their assistance, especially in the northern regions of the Gaza Strip, where 400,000 people are at risk of famine.”
In this worrying situation, Netanyahu announced his determination to launch a military offensive against Rafah which he described as Hamas's “last bastion” and to free the hostages kidnapped by the Islamists. 1.5 million Palestinians live in the city on the border with Egypt, most of whom have been displaced by the war.
The possibility of an offensive worries the international community because of the risk of a humanitarian catastrophe. The Israeli government said if the hostages were not released before the start of Ramadan on March 10 or 11, fighting would spread to that location.