Bombings in Gaza continued on Sunday, January 21, while Israel conducted operations in the West Bank after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his opposition to “Palestinian sovereignty.”
Israel must “ensure that Gaza no longer poses a threat” and this requirement “contradicts the demand for Palestinian sovereignty,” Netanyahu said in a telephone interview with American President Joe Biden on Friday. On Thursday, he reiterated that Israel must control the security of “the entire area west of the Jordan,” including the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
The conflict, reaching its 107th day and sparked by an unprecedented Hamas attack in southern Israel on October 7, is testing the Jewish state's ties with its main ally and supporter, the United States. Unity, particularly on this issue, is central to the post-war two-state solution.
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Joe Biden “still believes in the prospect and possibility” of a Palestinian state, but “recognizes that it will take a lot of work to get there,” the White House said following the telephone exchange.
British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said on Sunday it was “disappointing to hear this from the Israeli prime minister,” adding that there was “no other option” for the U.K. other than a two-state solution to resolve the conflict in the region give.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that “the right of the Palestinian people” to a state must be “recognized by all” and that any “denial” was “unacceptable”.
More than 25,000 Palestinians killed, Hamas says
The bloody Hamas attack on October 7 left 1,140 people dead, most of them civilians, according to an Agence France-Presse (AFP) count based on official Israeli figures. About 250 people were kidnapped and taken to Gaza, about 100 of whom were released at the end of November.
Israel, which has vowed to “destroy” Hamas, is retaliating by shelling the small area where bombings and military operations have killed more than 25,000 people, the vast majority women, children and teenagers, according to a report by the Hamas Health Ministry on Sunday published. At least 1.7 million people have been displaced by the war, according to revised figures from the United Nations Palestinian Refugee Agency (UNRWA).
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Mr Netanyahu has rejected calls from the United Nations and the international community for a humanitarian ceasefire, while Washington has called on Israel to limit the number of civilian casualties in Gaza.
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Hamas reported dozens of airstrikes and artillery attacks in the Gaza Strip on Sunday and said Israeli forces had attacked the area around Nasser and Al-Amal hospitals in the city of Khan Yunis, now the epicenter of military operations. Dozens of bodies “still lie under the rubble,” the Palestinian Islamist movement said.
The Israeli army dropped leaflets in Rafah on Saturday that showed photos of the hostages and called on residents of the city, where tens of thousands of displaced people are crowded, to share information about them. According to Israel, there are still 132 hostages in the territory. At least 27 people were killed, according to an AFP count based on Israeli figures.
In Tel Aviv on Saturday, thousands of Israelis gathered to demand the return of hostages held in the Gaza Strip since October 7 and to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is accused in particular of waging a war to maintain power to continue.
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In addition, the Israeli army is conducting several operations in the West Bank, Hebron, Qalqilya and Jenin, according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA. There have been patrols and arrests, assures the same source, who reported that two houses of Palestinian fighters were destroyed in Hebron.