Netanyahu told US that in any post-war scenario, he opposes Palestinian State: Israel media

Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said on Thursday he has told the United States that he opposes the establishment of a Palestinian State as part of any post-war scenario, said local media, Anadolu Agency reports.

According to Israeli Channel 12, Netanyahu underscored the deep divisions between the close allies three months into Israel’s assault on Gaza aiming to eliminate its rulers from Palestinian group, Hamas.

Netanyahu also pledged to continue the military campaign until Israel achieves a decisive victory over Hamas, something many analysts have said is impossible.

Netanyahu’s statement seems likely to widen a reportedly already large rift with its traditionally most loyal ally, the United States. US officials have reportedly been at odds with Israel behind the scenes in recent weeks, and the US has long favoured a two-state solution for ending the bloodshed and tension in the region.

Israel has launched relentless air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by Hamas, which Tel Aviv says killed around 1,200 people.

However, since then, it has been revealed by Haaretz that helicopters and tanks of the Israeli army had, in fact, killed many of the 1,139 soldiers and civilians claimed by Israel to have been killed by the Palestinian Resistance.

Some 25,000 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and around 62,000 others injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.

The Israeli offensive has left 85 per cent of Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60 per cent of the enclave’s infrastructure was damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

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