Prime Minister Netanyahu Says Palestinian State Will Become A Platform Destroying Israel

President Trump at home to PM Netanyahu at the White House. (Twitter/@WhiteHouse)

JAKARTA - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday he wanted peace with Palestine, but described future independent countries as platforms to destroy Israel and for that reason security sovereignty must remain in the hands of his country.

Speaking at the White House, the meeting place with United States President Donald Trump, PM Netanyahu described the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023 against Israel from the Gaza Strip, where the Palestinian militant group is in control, as evidence of what Palestine will do against a country.

Trump said, "I don't know" when asked by reporters whether a two-state solution was possible and referring the question to PM Netanyahu.

Meanwhile, PM Netanyahu said: "I think Palestine should have all the power to rule themselves, but there is no power to threaten us. That means the power of sovereignty, like overall security, will always be in our hands."

"After October 7, people said Palestine had a state, a Hamas state in Gaza and saw what they were doing with the country. They didn't build it. They built bunkers, tunneled terror, then slaughtered our people, raped our women, sacked our men's heads, stormed our cities, kibbutzim. we, and carried out a terrible massacre, which we have never seen since World War Two and Nazi, Holocaust. So, impossible people say, 'Let's give them another country.' It will become a platform to destroy Israel, "he explained.

"We will make peace with our Palestinian neighbors, those who do not want to destroy us, and we will make peace where our security, sovereign security forces, is always in our hands," Prime Minister Netanyahu continued.

"Now people will say, 'This is not a complete country, it's not a country, it's not that.' We don't care. We swear we will never do it again. Never again. It won't happen again," he said.

Last week, cabinet ministers from PM Netanyahu's Likud Party called for Israel to annex Israel's occupied West Bank before the Knesset recess at the end of July.

Israeli pro-configuration politicians are getting bolder with Trump's return to the White House, which has proposed that Palestinians leave Gaza, a suggestion widely criticized across the Middle East and its surroundings.

President Trump hosted PM Netanyahu at a dinner at the White House on Monday, while Israeli officials held indirect negotiations with Hamas in Qatar aimed at securing a US-brokered Gaza ceasefire and a deal to release hostages.

It is known that the latest conflict in Gaza broke out after a Palestinian militant group attacked Israel's southern region on October 7, 2023, leaving 1,200 people dead and 251 others held hostage according to Israeli calculations.

Israel responded to this by blocking, airstrikes and military operations in the Gaza Strip region.

Israel and the Palestinian militant group agreed to a ceasefire and exchange of hostages and detainees on January 19.

On March 2, Israel again carried out a total blockade against Gaza under the pretext of pressuring Palestinian militant groups to agree on a ceasefire proposed by the United States and a exchange of hostages.

As the ceasefire agreement ended, Israel resumed military operations in Gaza on March 18.

About 20 hostages remain are believed to be alive. The majority of the initial hostages have been released through diplomatic negotiations, although the Israeli military has also released several hostages.

As of yesterday, Palestinian deaths in the Gaza Strip since the latest conflict broke out have reached 57,523 and 136,617 others have been injured, according to a medical source in Gaza, quoted by Anadolu.