What will happen to the Gaza Strip after the end of the war? US President Biden is in favor of unification with the West Bank. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is skeptical.
US President Joe Biden has once again spoken out in favor of a two-state solution with a view to the period after the Middle East war. In an op-ed in the Washington Post, he called for a “unified government structure” for the West Bank and Gaza Strip under a revived Palestinian Authority.
He also brought sanctions against extremist settlers in the West Bank into play.
The goal must be an end to the violence
“This much is clear: a two-state solution is the only way to ensure the long-term security of both the Israeli and Palestinian people,” Biden’s article said. “While it may seem at the moment that this future has never been further away, the crisis has made it more urgent than ever.”
The US President emphasized that the Palestinian people deserve their own state and a future free from the Islamist Hamas. “The images from the Gaza Strip and the deaths of thousands of civilians, including children, also break my heart.” Now the goal must be to end the war forever and break the cycle of violence.
Biden: There must be no occupation or siege
The US Democrat made it clear again: “There must be no forcible expulsion of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, no reoccupation, no siege or blockade and no reduction in the size of the area.”
The 80-year-old once again criticized “the extremist violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.” He emphasized that he had strongly advocated with the Israeli leadership that those who perpetrated this violence must be held accountable. “The United States stands ready to take its own actions, including imposing travel bans on extremists attacking civilians in the West Bank,” he warned. He explicitly did not use the word settler.
Skepticism from Netanyahu
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu responded to Biden’s demand with skepticism. He said in Tel Aviv that the Palestinian Authority in its current form is not capable of taking over leadership in Gaza.
Netanyahu plans for Israel to have military responsibility in the Gaza Strip for the foreseeable future.
Abbas asks Biden for support
In a televised speech, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on Biden to put pressure on Israel. He literally spoke of a “genocide” in Gaza, he said: “How can this genocide be justified as self-defense? In reality, these are war crimes that must be punished.” Abbas called on the US president to intervene “to stop the attacks by Israeli forces in the West Bank and Jerusalem.”
Abbas also called on Biden to push for more humanitarian aid to be brought into the blocked coastal strip.