Joe Biden on Saturday called for a future reunification of the West Bank and Gaza Strip under a “revitalized Palestinian Authority,” and threatened sanctions against “extremist” settlers who attack Palestinians in the West Bank.
“Gaza and the West Bank should be reunified under the same governance structure, ultimately under a revitalized Palestinian Authority”, once Hamas is driven from the Palestinian territory it has governed since 2007, following the ongoing Israeli military operation. , writes the American president in a column published by the daily Washington Post.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded in a press conference that “the Palestinian Authority in its current form was not capable of taking responsibility for Gaza. »
“We cannot have a civilian authority in Gaza that supports terrorism, encourages terrorism, finances terrorism and teaches terrorism,” he said.
President Mahmoud Abbas, who governs the autonomous areas of the West Bank, linked a return of the Palestinian Authority to the Gaza Strip at the beginning of November to a “political settlement” also including the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
“The Gaza Strip is an integral part of the State of Palestine, we will take our full responsibilities 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.
“No reoccupation”
In his column, Joe Biden also threatens to ban visas from “extremists who attack civilians in the West Bank”.
“Extremist violence against Palestinians in the West Bank must stop and those who commit this violence must be held to account,” he insists.
“A two-state solution is the only way to ensure the long-term security of the Israeli people and the Palestinian people. Today this prospect seems more distant than ever, but the current crisis makes it more necessary than ever,” said the 80-year-old democrat, citing the principles which according to him should prevail.
“Gaza must never again be used as a base for terrorism. There must be no forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, no reoccupation, no siege or blockade, and no reduction of the territory,” he lists.
The retaliatory bombings on the Gaza Strip have been incessant since Hamas carried out an attack of unprecedented scale and violence on Israeli soil on October 7 which left 1,200 dead, mostly civilians, and kidnapped with other armed groups around 240 people, according to Israeli authorities.
According to the Hamas Ministry of Health, Israeli strikes killed at least 12,000 Palestinian civilians, including 5,000 children.
Tensions are also high in the West Bank, territory occupied since 1967 by Israel, where around 200 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli settlers and soldiers since October 7, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.