Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel remains firmly opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state, responding to anger from far-right members of his governing coalition after a US-backed statement referenced a possible path toward Palestinian independence.
His comments came two days after the United States and several Muslim-majority countries endorsed a draft UN Security Council resolution supporting President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan. The proposal includes a “Board of Peace” transitional body for Gaza, meant to oversee reconstruction and economic recovery following the recent ceasefire.
On the same day, Israeli forces killed four Palestinians three in southern Gaza and one in the West Bank city of Nablus, according to Al Jazeera.
A clause in Trump’s 20-point plan says that, if reforms are carried out within the Palestinian Authority, conditions could emerge for a “credible pathway” to Palestinian self-determination and statehood. That language angered far-right Israeli leaders who had opposed the October ceasefire in Gaza and challenged Netanyahu’s already fragile coalition.
On Saturday, ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich urged Netanyahu to reject any reference to Palestinian statehood, with Ben-Gvir warning he might pull his party out of the coalition if Netanyahu did not issue a clear response.
Netanyahu said on Sunday, “Our opposition to a Palestinian state in any territory has not changed. Gaza will be demilitarised and Hamas will be disarmed, the easy way or the hard way. I do not need affirmations, tweets or lectures from anyone.” A departure by far-right partners could collapse Netanyahu’s government ahead of the next scheduled election in October 2026.
Defence Minister Israel Katz and Foreign Minister Gideon Saar also posted messages opposing Palestinian statehood, though they did not directly mention Netanyahu.
Trump’s Gaza plan ended two years of heavy fighting between Israel and Hamas that devastated Gaza and caused regional unrest. Netanyahu supported the plan during a visit to the White House in September but had not commented recently on the statehood question.
Before his Washington trip, Netanyahu had promised to respond to several Western countries including France that formally recognised a Palestinian state in September, a move that angered Israel. However, he has not yet taken diplomatic action.
Smotrich criticised Netanyahu for staying silent, saying he had “chosen political disgrace” and urging him to state clearly that “a Palestinian state will never arise on the lands of our homeland.”
More than 69,000 Palestinians have been killed during two years of Israeli airstrikes and ground operations in Gaza, according to local health officials. The war began after Hamas launched an attack on Israel on Oct 7, 2023, killing roughly 1,200 people, according to Israeli figures.
Although a ceasefire took effect on Oct 10, isolated incidents of violence continue.
