TEL AVIV: Stressing achieving “demilitarisation” of Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he will never allow Palestinian authority to return to the strip, adding that there will be a ‘civil government’ that won’t educate children about “destroying Israel,” Times of Israel reported.
He said that Israel won’t allow ‘Hamastan’ to turn into ‘Fatahstan’ even if this is the wish of Israel’s “staunchest ally,” referring to the US.
Netanyahu also cited a survey that found 82 per cent of Palestinians in the West Bank justified the October 7 attacks on Israel, adding that the Palestinian authority has yet to condemn the assault.
“They should control Gaza?” he asked, referring to the Palestinian Authority, and stressed that he “won’t let that happen.”
On being asked about his vision for Gaza after the war, Netanyahu said, “I said there will be demilitarisation. I said the IDF will be responsible for security in the Gaza Strip because there is no other factor that will ensure the fight against terrorism. And I can tell you that there will be a civil government that does not educate its children to destroy Israel…I’m very clear on this.”
He further said that it was “only military pressure” that secured the release of hostages in last month’s truce and only military pressure will secure the release of the rest of the hostages as well.
“Without it, we have nothing,” he added.
The Israeli PM also stressed the diplomatic situation on the northern border of Israel after the IDF achieved a “crushing victory” over Hamas.
“First, there needs to be ‘crushing victory’ over Hamas, with Hezbollah deterred in the north, he says. Once Hamas is destroyed, Israel will focus on the north, where almost 100,000 Israelis are currently displaced from their homes,” Netanyahu said.
“Either there will be a diplomatic situation on the northern border, or there will be a different way to solve the situation,” he added.
In another major statement, Netanyahu said that he is being blamed for putting “brakes” on the Oslo Accords, but said he is “proud” of preventing the Palestinian state.
“I inherited the Oslo Accords,” he said. “The decision to bring the PLO from Tunis, and plant it in the heart of Judea and Samaria [West Bank], and in Gaza, was a decision made and implemented before I became prime minister. I thought it was a terrible mistake and I still do.”
“You and your journalist friends have been blaming me for almost 30 years for putting the brakes on the Oslo Accords and preventing the Palestinian state. That’s true,” Netanyahu said.
He added, “I’m proud that I prevented the establishment of a Palestinian state because today everybody understands what that Palestine state could have been, now that we’ve seen the little Palestinian state in Gaza. Everyone understands what would have happened if we had capitulated to international pressures and enabled a state like that in Judea and Samaria, surrounding Jerusalem and on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.” (ANI)