Israel minister says ‘we will build Jewish Israeli state' in West Bank
Israeli settlements in the West Bank, seen as a major obstacle to lasting peace, are regularly condemned by the United Nations as illegal under international law, and Thursday's announcement drew sharp foreign criticism.
'This is a decisive response to the terrorist organizations that are trying to harm and weaken our hold on this land — and it is also a clear message to (French President Emmanuel) Macron and his associates: they will recognize a Palestinian state on paper — but we will build the Jewish Israeli state here on the ground,' Katz was quoted as saying Friday in a statement from his office.
'The paper will be thrown into the trash bin of history, and the State of Israel will flourish and prosper.'
Katz was speaking during a visit to the Sa-Nur settlement outpost in the northern West Bank.
Sa-Nur was evacuated in 2005 as part of Israel's disengagement from Gaza, promoted by then prime minister Ariel Sharon.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967.
During a visit to Singapore on Friday, French President Macron asserted that recognition of a Palestinian state, with some conditions, was 'not only a moral duty, but a political necessity.'
An international conference meant to resurrect the idea of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is set to take place in June at the UN headquarters in New York.
A diplomat in Paris close to preparations for the conference said it should pave the way for more countries to recognize a Palestinian state.
Macron said in April that France could recognize a Palestinian state in June.
Following Israel's announcement of the new settlements on Thursday, Britain called the move a 'deliberate obstacle' to Palestinian statehood, while UN chief Antonio Guterres's spokesman said it pushed efforts toward a two-state solution 'in the wrong direction.'
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Al Arabiya
20 minutes ago
- Al Arabiya
US envoy Witkoff tells Israeli hostage families he is working on plan to end Gaza war
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Arab News
2 hours ago
- Arab News
Chaos, gangs, gunfire: Gaza aid fails to reach most needy
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But according to senior Israeli military officials quoted by the New York Times on July 26, Israel 'never found proof' that the group had 'systematically stolen aid' from the UN. Weakened by the war with Israel which has seen most of its senior leadership killed, Hamas today is made up of 'basically decentralized autonomous cells' said Shehada. He said while Hamas militants still hunker down in each Gaza neighborhood in tunnels or destroyed buildings, they are not visible on the ground 'because Israel has been systematically going after them.' Aid workers told AFP that during the ceasefire that preceded the March blockade, the Gaza police — which includes many Hamas members — helped secure humanitarian convoys, but that the current power vacuum was fostering insecurity and looting. 'UN agencies and humanitarian organizations have repeatedly called on Israeli authorities to facilitate and protect aid convoys and storage sites in our warehouses across the Gaza Strip,' said Bushra Khalidi, policy lead at Oxfam. 'These calls have largely been ignored,' she added. The Israeli army is also accused of having equipped Palestinian criminal networks in its fight against Hamas and of allowing them to plunder aid. 'The real theft of aid since the beginning of the war has been carried out by criminal gangs, under the watch of Israeli forces, and they were allowed to operate in proximity to the Kerem Shalom crossing point into Gaza,' Jonathan Whittall, Palestinian territories chief of the UN humanitarian office (OCHA), told reporters in May. According to Israeli and Palestinian media reports, an armed group called the Popular Forces, made up of members of a Bedouin tribe led by Yasser Abu Shabab, is operating in the southern region under Israeli control. 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Al Arabiya
2 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Palestinian Red Crescent says one staff killed in Israeli attack on Gaza HQ
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