Bernie Sanders: Israeli PM has ‘made his position clear’ on Palestinian statehood
US Senator Bernie Sanders comments come following denials by President Biden that Netanyahu’s comments on Friday evinced opposition to a Palestinian state. Netanyahu doubled down on those comments on Saturday, stating that he would “not compromise” on Israeli security control of all territory west of the Jordan River, and that this “opposes a Palestinian state”.
“Netanyahu has made his position clear: He will never allow a Palestinian state, ever,” Sanders said in a statement on Saturday. “Despite the illegal and inhumane actions of Netanyahu’s government, President Biden has thus far offered unconditional support to Israel. That must change,” the statement adds.
Netanyahu rejects Biden’s statements on two-state solution
A statement from the Israeli PM’s office, reported by Reuters news service, seems to signal a break from comments the US president made yesterday on the US’s commitment to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
“Netanyahu, during his conversation with Biden, reiterated that after the destruction of Hamas, Israel must maintain security control over Gaza to ensure that it will no longer pose a threat,” the statement reads.
Ben-Gvir says he will always reject a Palestinian state
Israel’s hard-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has underscored his opposition to a two-state solution in a social media post. The post follows a series of statements from Israeli officials today shooting down comments from President Biden that Israeli leaders remain open to Palestinian statehood under certain circumstances, most notably from Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
“I do deny a Palestinian state,” Ben-Gvir said. “Always!”
Smortich to Israeli media: Palestinian state will lead to ‘next massacre’
In comments to Israeli outlet Maariv, far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has responded to the firm US position in favour of the establishment of an independent Palestinian state after Israel’s war on Gaza ends.
“There is a broad consensus in Israel against a Palestinian state and the division of the land. Israel’s friends should understand that the push for the establishment of a Palestinian state is a push for the next massacre,” he told Maariv, referring to Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel.
“The White House also needs to disabuse itself of the concepts that led to Israel’s national disaster,” he continued.
Settler attacks seek to ethnically cleanse Gaza and occupied West Bank: Palestinian politician
Mustafa Barghouti, a Palestinian politician and head of the National Initiative Movement, tells Al Jazeera that since October 7, attacks by illegal Israeli settlers on Palestinians have gotten “much worse”.
“Every Israeli thinks they have the licence to kill Palestinians,” he said. “It is now so frequent that settlers will dress as soldiers … and attack Palestinian communities.” “On top of that, the settlers are armed, and they are even more armed now with Ben-Gvir in government. He made it his mission in life to arm every Israeli settler,” he continued.
Barghouti said that “This Israeli government is a fascist one, and their clear goal is the ethnic cleansing of all Palestinians in Gaza as well as in the West Bank”. He said that the government’s goal is a repetition of the 1948 Nakba, in which 70 percent of Palestinians were expelled from their land.
Israel claims ‘no limit’ to aid allowed to enter Gaza as UN says it is blocking delivery
Israel’s coordination office for its activities in Palestine has claimed on X that there is “no limit to the amount of humanitarian aid that can enter the Gaza Strip,” adding that close to 10,000 aid trucks have been transferred to Gaza since October 7.
Yesterday, a report from the UN humanitarian affairs branch in Palestine stated that Israel had denied nearly 70 percent of aid missions to north Gaza in the first half of January, allowing only seven of the UN’s 29 attempts to deliver life-saving supplies. “People in Gaza are dying not only from bombs and bullets, but from lack of food & clean water, and hospitals without power & medicine,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on X earlier today.
Guterres has repeatedly and recently called for Israel to remove obstacles to the delivery of humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, who are now facing an unprecedented hunger crisis.
Close to 10K trucks since October 7, that's less than 100 a day on average while before the war an average of 500 trucks crossed into Gaza daily. That's before Israel cut off fuel, water and electricity, razed farms and most civilian infrastructure. Less than 10% of what's needed is coming in.
UN chief: ‘I will not relent’ from Gaza ceasefire calls
Antonio Guterres says on X that the mass death of Palestinians in Gaza “must stop”.
“People in Gaza are dying not only from bombs and bullets, but from lack of food & clean water, and hospitals without power & medicine,” he wrote.
Israeli army’s ‘wholesale destruction of Gaza’ is ‘totally unprecedented’: Guterres
The secretary-general of the UN spoke about Israel’s war on Gaza at the 19th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Kampala, Uganda.
Here are a few key things he said:
- The wholesale destruction of Gaza and the number of civilian casualties caused by the Israeli army in such a short period are totally unprecedented during my mandate.
- This includes 152 of our own UN staff members, a heartbreaking tragedy for our organisation, for their families and for those they were serving in Gaza.
- While humanitarian workers are doing their best to deliver relief, they face constant bombardments, daily dangers to themselves and their families and the enormous constraints by damaged roads, communication blackouts and access denials.
- Meanwhile, disease and anger are deepening, people are dying not only from bombs and bullets but from lack of food and clean water, hospitals without power and medicine and gruelling journeys to even smaller slivers of land to escape the fighting. This must stop.
