Israel launched the attack after an unprecedented cross-border attack by Hamas on October 7, which killed 1,200 people and took about 250 others hostage. Israel believes that approximately 130 hostages remain in Hamas captivity. The war has raised tensions across the region, threatening to ignite other conflicts.
The Israeli offensive, one of the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns in modern history, has killed nearly 25,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, and caused widespread destruction and uprooted more than 80 percent of the Strip's population of 2.3 million. From their homes.
The high cost of the war has led to increased calls from the international community to stop the offensive.
An Israeli helicopter launches flares near the border with Gaza on December 29 in southern Israel.credit: GT
After initially providing blanket support to Israel in the early days of the war, the United States, Israel's closest ally, began to voice its concerns and urged Netanyahu to clarify his vision for post-war Gaza.
The United States said the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority, which governs semi-autonomous areas in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, should be “activated” and returned to Gaza. Hamas expelled the Authority from Gaza in 2007.
Palestinian children injured in an Israeli air strike arrive at Nasser Medical Hospital in Gaza.credit: GT
The United States also called for steps toward establishing a Palestinian state. The Palestinians seek to establish their state in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Israel occupied these areas in 1967.
Speaking Wednesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Blinken said a two-state solution is the best way to protect Israel, unite moderate Arab countries and isolate Israel's arch-enemy, Iran.
He added that without “a path leading to a Palestinian state,” Israel will not “obtain real security.”
At the same conference, the Saudi Foreign Minister said that the Kingdom was ready to establish full relations with Israel as part of a larger political agreement. He added: “But this can only happen through peace for the Palestinians, through the Palestinian state.”
Netanyahu, who leads a far-right government opposed to the establishment of a Palestinian state, reiterated his continued opposition to the two-state solution. He said that the Palestinian state would become a starting point for attacks on Israel.
He said that Israel “must have security control over the entire territory west of the Jordan River,” adding that “this contradicts the idea of sovereignty.” What can we do?”
He said: “I say this truth to our American friends, and stop trying to force us into a reality that would endanger the State of Israel.”
These comments sparked an immediate rebuke from the White House. Kirby said President Joe Biden “will not stop working” toward a two-state solution.
US Senator Bernie Sanders also commented, saying that the ongoing Israeli bombing of Gaza is “a tragedy in which we, the United States, are complicit.”
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Mexico and Chile expressed “increased concern” on Thursday (Mexico time) about escalating violence in the Gaza Strip after several months of war between Israel and Hamas, in a referral to the International Criminal Court over possible crimes.
In a statement, the Mexican Foreign Ministry said the ICC is the appropriate forum to determine potential criminal liability, “whether committed by agents of the occupying power or by the occupying power.”
The statement referred to “numerous reports issued by the United Nations detailing many incidents that could constitute crimes within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.”
AP, Reuters
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