Netanyahu reiterated his intention to block future Palestinian statehood ahead of the United Nations Security Council vote.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other officials reiterated their intention to block future Palestinian statehood ahead of the United Nations Security Council vote to authorize the U.S. plan for post-war Gaza on Monday.
There are three remaining deceased hostages in Gaza. Israeli authorities have been releasing the bodies of Palestinians in exchange for the return of hostage remains.
The ceasefire is broadly holding in Gaza, with Israeli forces inside the strip having pulled back to the so-called „yellow line.“ Elsewhere, Israel is continuing strikes on what it says are Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon. The Israel Defense Forces is also continuing raids in parts of the occupied West Bank.
Netanyahu told the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, last week that the war „has not ended.“
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office published a statement on Tuesday congratulating President Donald Trump after the United Nations Security Council authorized the U.S.-led plan for post-war Gaza.
„We believe that this plan will lead to peace and prosperity, as it includes full demobilization, disarmament and a process to deradicalize Gaza“, Netanyahu said in the statement.
„In cooperation with the United States and other countries supporting the plan, Israel looks forward to the return of all the bodies of the abductees. Without delay“, he said. There are believed to still be three deceased hostages inside Gaza.
„We will also begin the process of demilitarizing and disarming the Gaza Strip and ending Hamas rule“, Netanyahu said.
„Israel extends its hand of peace and prosperity to all its neighbors, and calls on them to normalize relations and join the movement to remove Hamas and its supporters from the region“, the prime minister added.
Netanyahu’s statement did not mention the plan’s reference to potential future Palestinian statehood — a proposal the prime minister and other Israeli officials have criticized and repeatedly said they will block, including in the days leading up to Monday’s vote.
