Netanyahu: Our Position on a Palestinian State and Hamas Disarmament is Fixed

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated on Sunday that "Hamas will be stripped of its weapons. That is what I said, and that is what US President Donald Trump said."

Netanyahu added at the beginning of the weekly cabinet meeting: "Regarding the Palestinian State – our opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state in any area west of the Jordan River is standing and prevailing and has not changed at all."

He continued: "Our opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state on any part of the land has not changed. Gaza will be demilitarized, and Hamas will be disarmed the easy way or the hard way. I do not need reinforcements, tweets, or lectures from anyone."

For the first time, a reference to a Palestinian State was included in a draft submitted to the UN Security Council concerning the international security force supposed to be deployed in the Gaza Strip, according to a document seen by Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Thursday.

The draft states that "following the honest implementation of the Palestinian Authority's reform program, and progress in the redevelopment of Gaza, conditions may finally be ripe for a credible path toward Palestinian self-determination and statehood."

"The United States will launch a dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians to agree on a political horizon for peaceful and prosperous coexistence," according to a new clause in the draft. It is noteworthy that this is the same wording used in the US-backed Gaza plan; however, this marks the first time the name "Palestinian State" has been mentioned in the main body of the resolution and not in an annex.