Biden calls for a “reunification of Gaza and the West Bank” and threatens sanctions against “extremist” settlers
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Joe Biden on Saturday called for a future reunification of the West Bank and Gaza Strip under a “revived Palestinian Authority” and threatened sanctions against “extremist” settlers who attack Palestinians in the West Bank.
“Gaza and the West Bank should be reunited under the same government structure, ultimately under a revived Palestinian Authority,” the American president wrote in a column in the Washington Post newspaper.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded in a press conference that “the Palestinian Authority in its current form is not capable of taking responsibility for Gaza.”
“We cannot have a civilian authority in Gaza that supports terrorism, promotes terrorism, finances terrorism and teaches terrorism,” he said.
In early November, President Mahmoud Abbas, who governs the autonomous regions in the West Bank, linked a return of the Palestinian Authority to the Gaza Strip to a “political settlement” that also includes the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
“The Gaza Strip is an integral part of the State of Palestine. We will assume our full responsibility within the framework of a comprehensive political solution for the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip,” said Mr. Abbas while receiving US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Ramallah.
In his column, Joe Biden also threatened a visa ban for “extremists who attack civilians in the West Bank.”
“Extremist violence against Palestinians in the West Bank must stop and those who perpetrate this violence must be held accountable,” he stressed.
“A two-state solution is the only way to ensure the long-term security of the Israeli and Palestinian people. Today that prospect seems more distant than ever, but the current crisis makes it more necessary than ever,” the 80-year-old Democrat said, pointing to the principles he believes should prevail.
“Gaza must never again be used as a base for terrorism. There must be no forced expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza, no reoccupation, no siege or blockade, and no territorial reduction,” he says.
Retaliatory attacks on the Gaza Strip have been ongoing since Hamas carried out an attack of unprecedented scale and violence on Israeli soil on October 7, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, along with other armed groups, according to Israeli authorities around 240 people were kidnapped.
According to the Hamas Health Ministry, at least 12,000 Palestinian civilians, including 5,000 children, were killed in Israeli strikes.