The Israeli prime minister told his party members that he is looking for a “political solution” to end the war and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which involves finding other countries to “absorb” the Palestinian population.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told his supporters that he is working on finding countries ready to “absorb” Palestinians from Gaza, according to a report by the Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom.
The report, which was published on Tuesday, said that Netanyahu made the comments at a meeting of his Likud party on Monday, in which he sought to clarify Israel’s plans for after the war had ended.
The report said that Netanyahu told his party members that he was not interested in a “military solution” to the war, which has killed more than 20,000 Palestinians, and caused widespread destruction and suffering in Gaza, as well as in Israel and the West Bank.
The report said that Netanyahu said that he was looking for a “political solution” to the war, which would involve finding other countries to “absorb” the Palestinian population of Gaza, which is estimated at about 2 million people.
The report said that Netanyahu did not specify which countries he had in mind, or how he planned to persuade them to accept the Palestinians. The report also said that Netanyahu did not explain how he would deal with the political and legal implications of such a move, such as the status and rights of the Palestinians, the fate of Hamas and other militant groups, and the reaction of the international community and the Arab world.
The report said that Netanyahu’s remarks were met with skepticism and criticism by some of his party members, who questioned the feasibility and the morality of his proposal. The report also said that Netanyahu’s remarks were leaked to the media by some of his party members, who were unhappy with his leadership and his handling of the war.
“Off the Record”
The report said that Netanyahu’s spokesperson declined to comment on the report, and said that the prime minister’s remarks were “off the record” and “not for publication”.
The report said that Netanyahu’s proposal was not new, and that he had raised it before in previous meetings and interviews. The report also said that Netanyahu’s proposal was similar to the idea of “population transfer”, which has been advocated by some Israeli politicians and activists on the far right, who believe that the only way to solve the Israel-Palestine conflict is to remove the Palestinians from the land.
The report said that Netanyahu’s proposal was also reminiscent of the “deal of the century”, the peace plan that was unveiled by former US President Donald Trump in January 2020, which proposed to annex large parts of the West Bank to Israel, and to create a demilitarized and disconnected Palestinian state in Gaza and some enclaves in the West Bank, with the possibility of relocating some Palestinians to neighboring countries, such as Egypt and Jordan.
The report said that Netanyahu’s proposal was likely to face strong opposition and rejection from the Palestinians, who consider Gaza as an integral part of their homeland, and who have been fighting for their right to self-determination and statehood for decades. The report also said that Netanyahu’s proposal was likely to face condemnation and criticism from the international community, which considers Gaza as an occupied territory, and which supports the two-state solution as the basis for a just and lasting peace.
The report said that Netanyahu’s proposal was also likely to face challenges and complications from the regional and international actors and factors that are involved and interested in the crisis, such as Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, Iran, Russia, China, the US, the UN, and the EU.
The report said that Netanyahu’s proposal was also likely to have implications and consequences for the future of the war, the region, and the peace process, such as the prospects and parameters of a ceasefire, a reconstruction, a reconciliation, and a negotiation, and the alternatives and scenarios of a one-state, a two-state, or a no-state solution.
