Mexico, Chile refer Gaza conflict to ICC over potential crimes
\nGAZA
\nThere is \u201cno way\u201d to solve Israel\u2019s long-term security challenges in the region and the short-term challenges of rebuilding Gaza without the establishment of a Palestinian state, said US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.
\nThe Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip has led to increasing international alarm and scrutiny over the deaths of civilians, especially children. Gaza health authorities said on Thursday the war\u2019s death toll had risen to 24,620, with many more feared buried under the rubble.
\nSpeaking at a news briefing, Miller said Israel had an opportunity right now as countries in the region were ready to provide security assurances to Israel.
\n\u201cBut there is no way to solve their long-term challenges to provide lasting security and there is no way to solve the short-term challenges of rebuilding Gaza and establishing governance in Gaza and providing security for Gaza without the establishment of a Palestinian state.\u201d
\nThe comments came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a press conference he had told Washington that he objected to any Palestinian statehood that did not guarantee Israel\u2019s security.
\n\u201cI clarify that in any arrangement in the foreseeable future, with an accord or without an accord, Israel must have security control over the entire territory west of the Jordan River. That\u2019s a necessary condition. It clashes with the principle of sovereignty but what can you do,\u201d Netanyahu said in Tel Aviv.
\nHe added that the lack of Palestinian statehood had not stood in the way of normalisation agreements with Arab states a few years ago and that he still intended to add more countries to those accords.
\nIsrael and its biggest backer the United States appear at odds now, with Netanyahu and his right-wing coalition government largely rejecting the establishment of a Palestinian state even though Washington maintains that the two-state solution is the only feasible way to bring lasting peace to the region.
\nUS Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in his fourth trip to the Middle East last week since the Oct. 7, took a rough agreement to Israel that its predominately Muslim neighbours would help rehabilitate Gaza after the war and continue economic integration with Israel, but only if it committed to eventually allowing the creation of an independent Palestinian state.
\nUS-brokered talks on a Palestinian state in the territory now occupied by Israel collapsed almost a decade ago.
\nDespite the disagreements, US support for longtime ally Israel \u201cremains ironclad,\u201d Miller said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mexico, Chile refer Gaza conflict to ICC over potential crimes GAZA There is \u201cno way\u201d to solve Israel\u2019s long-term security challenges in the region and the short-term challenges of rebuilding Gaza without the establishment of a Palestinian state, said US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller. The Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip has led to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":381865,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-381834","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n