Our position on the Palestinian state and Hamas’ weapons is consistent

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that “Hamas will be disarmed. This is what I said and this is what US President Donald Trump said.”

Netanyahu added at the beginning of the weekly government session: “Regarding the Palestinian state – our opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state in any region west of Jordan is present and prevalent and has not changed at all.”

He continued: “Our opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state on any part of the land has not changed. Gaza will be disarmed, and Hamas will be disarmed the easy way or the hard way. I do not need reinforcements, tweets, or lectures from anyone.”

For the first time, a reference to a Palestinian state was made in a draft submitted to the UN Security Council regarding the international security force supposed to be deployed in the Gaza Strip, according to a document seen by Agence France-Presse on Thursday.

The draft says, “After faithfully implementing the Palestinian Authority’s reform program and making progress in redeveloping Gaza, conditions may finally be created for a reliable path toward Palestinian self-determination and statehood.”

“The United States will launch a dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians to agree on a political horizon for peaceful and prosperous coexistence,” according to a new clause in the draft.

It should be noted that this is the same wording used in the US-backed Gaza plan. However, this is the first time that the name of the Palestinian state is mentioned in the body of the main resolution and not in the annex.