Netanyahu Refuses Palestinian Sovereignty in Post-War Gaza, Countering Biden

JERUSALEM—Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that he “will not compromise on full Israeli control” over Gaza and that “this is contrary to a Palestinian state,” rejecting U.S. President Joe Biden’s suggestion that creative solutions could bridge wide gaps between the leaders’ views on Palestinian statehood.

Mr. Netanyahu posted his message on social media after his first conversation with President Biden in nearly a month. Discussing his administration’s position on Friday, President Biden said “there are a number of types of two-state solutions” and, questioned if a two-state solution was impossible with Mr. Netanyahu in office, President Biden replied, “No, it’s not.”

Following Mr. Netanyahu’s statement, a spokesman for Mahmoud Abbas, the head of the Palestinian Authority, urged the United States to go further. “It is time for the United States to recognize the state of Palestine, not just talk about a two-state solution,” Nabil Abu Rudeineh said in a statement.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, “the refusal to accept the two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians, and the denial of the right to statehood for the Palestinian people, are unacceptable.” Speaking in Uganda, he said the refusal would “indefinitely prolong” the conflict.

Mr. Netanyahu has said Israel must fight until it achieves “complete victory” and the Hamas terrorist group no longer poses a threat.

But a member of Israel’s War Cabinet, former Israeli army chief Gadi Eisenkot, has said that complete victory over the terror group was unrealistic.

Israel began its war against Hamas after terrorists attacked Israel on Oct. 7 killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, with about 250 others taken hostage.

Mr. Netanyahu has insisted that the only way to secure the hostages’ return is by crushing Hamas through military means. More than 100 hostages, mostly women and children, were released during a brief November cease-fire in exchange for the release of a large number of Palestinian prisoners by Israel. Israel has said that more than 130 hostages remain in Gaza.

The protest outside Mr. Netanyahu’s home in the coastal town of Caesarea grew, with police pushing a few attendees away, sparking arguments.

At the Tel Aviv protest, former hostage Chen Goldstein-Almog told the crowd that “if we, as a society, as a state, don’t do everything, I mean everything, to return the abductees, the living and the dead, we have no right to exist, as a state and as a society.”

Dozens of anti-war protesters also gathered in the Israeli city of Haifa. Police made one arrest.

As part of its search for the hostages, Israel’s military dropped leaflets on Gaza’s southernmost town of Rafah. The leaflets, with photos of dozens of hostages, carried a message suggesting benefits for anyone who spoke up.

“You want to return home? Please report if you identified one of them,” the message read.

Hours later, Al-Majd al-Amni, a media outlet linked to the Hamas terrorist group, warned Palestinians against supplying any information about Israeli soldiers held hostage in Gaza.

The war has rippled across the Middle East, with Iranian-backed groups attacking U.S. and Israeli targets. Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon potentially threatens to erupt, and Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen are targeting international shipping in the Red Sea despite U.S.-led airstrikes.

On Saturday, an Israeli strike on Syria’s capital destroyed a building used by the Iranian paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, killing at least five Iranians, Syrian and Iranian state media reported. Also Saturday, an Israeli drone strike on a car near the Lebanese port city of Tyre killed two people, the state-run National News Agency reported. It was not immediately clear who the target was.

By Julia Frankel and Samy Magdy