In an opinion article published in the Wall Street Journal this Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented his “three prerequisites for peace”
For Benjamin Netanyahu, for there to be peace between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic movement must be destroyed, the Gaza Strip must be demilitarized and the entire Palestinian society must be distanced from Islamic radicalism.
For now, Netanyahu warns that the war with Hamas “is not close to an end” and promises to expand the offensive in Gaza.
In Benjamin Netanyahu’s opinion, for peace to be achieved in the Middle East, Hamas must first be “destroyed”.
“To achieve this objective, its military capabilities must be dismantled and its political dominance over Gaza must end,” wrote the Israeli prime minister in an article published in the Wall Street Journal.
“Hamas leaders have promised to repeat the October 7 massacre. That is why their destruction is the only proportionate response to prevent the repetition of such horrific atrocities.
Anything less guarantees more war and more bloodshed,” Netanyahu wrote, assuring that “the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and many other countries support Israel’s intention to destroy the terrorist group.”
Secondly, Netanyahu defends the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip, arguing that the enclave “should never again be used to attack” Israel.
“Among other things, this will require the establishment of a temporary security zone on the Gaza perimeter and an inspection mechanism on the Gaza-Egypt border that meets Israel’s security needs and prevents the smuggling of weapons into the territory,” says Netanyahu.
Responding to views that the Palestinian Authority should administer the Gaza Strip after the war, Netanyahu says that the “expectation that the Palestinian Authority will demilitarize Gaza is a chimera,” adding that Ramallah “has demonstrated neither the ability nor the will to demilitarize Gaza.”
Instead, the Palestinian Authority “funds and glorifies terrorism” in the West Bank “and educates Palestinian children to aspire to destroy Israel.”
Thus, as a third prerequisite, Netanyahu argues that the entire Palestinian society must be distanced from Islamic radicalism.
“Palestinian schools must teach children to value life over death and imams must stop preaching in favor of the murder of Jews”, argues the Israeli prime minister.
“Palestinian civil society needs to be transformed so that its people support the fight against terrorism instead of financing it,” he said, adding that this requires “courageous and moral leadership.”
“When Hamas is destroyed, Gaza is demilitarized and Palestinian society begins a process of ‘de-radicalization’, Gaza can be rebuilt and the prospects for broader peace in the Middle East will become a reality,” concluded Netanyahu.
The article does not include as a prerequisite the release of the 129 hostages who were captured by Hamas in the October 7 attack and who remain held by terrorists in the Gaza Strip.
Netanyahu also does not mention the creation of a Palestinian state or a two-state solution, as has been advocated by the West.
Instead, the Israeli prime minister reiterated the idea that Israel will take control of Gaza when the conflict ends – a position that has put him at odds with the White House, which advocates governance of Gaza by a “renewed and revitalized.”
War “is not near the end” For now, Netanyahu warns that the war with Hamas “is not near the end” and promises to expand the offensive in Gaza.
Addressing members of his Likud party, after a visit to troops in Gaza, Netanyahu stated that the war “is not close to an end” and warned that the fighting will intensify. “We will not stop.
We continue to fight and we will intensify the fighting in the coming days”, declared Netanyahu, reinforcing that “it will be a long battle and it is not close to being over”.
“Until they (Hamas military) are finished, nothing less,” Netanyahu told Israeli troops in Gaza. In turn, the leader of Hamas stated that the radical Palestinian movement is increasingly closer to defeating Israeli forces.