Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has admitted that he and President Biden are in disagreement over the vision for Gaza once the war with Hamas ends.
While thanking the US for its continued support in Israel’s war effort, Netanyahu said Monday night that he had an “intensive dialogue with President Biden” on Israel’s post-war plans in Gaza.
“Yes, there is a disagreement when it comes to ‘the day after Hamas,’ and I hope we will come to an agreement here, too,” Netanyahu said in a statement. “I want to clarify my position: I will not allow Israel to repeat the mistake of Oslo.”
The prime minister was referencing the failed Oslo Accords, a once-groundbreaking truce between Israeli and Palestinian leaders in the ’90s that ultimately failed and emboldened terrorists to reject peace.
Netanyahu appeared to be rejecting America’s call for a revamped Palestinian Authority to take over Gaza once its current terrorist rulers, Hamas, have been defeated.
The PM, noting the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that killed more than 1,200 people in Israel, reiterated Monday that any semblance of current Palestinian officials have no place leading Gaza’s future.
“It can’t be that, after the enormous sacrifice of our citizens and fighters, we will let into Gaza those who teach terror, support terror, finance terror,” Netanyahu said. “Gaza will not be Hamas-stan nor Fatah-stan.”
The Israeli prime minister has repeatedly said he will not allow any foreign powers to dictate the Jewish state’s plan to “demilitarize” and “deradicalize” the Gaza Strip.
Netanyahu has also previously suggested that Israel should be the sole entity responsible for peace in Gaza and that it should maintain a security presence in the Palestinian enclave for an “indefinite period.”
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid slammed Netanyahu’s comments Monday, claiming the prime minister was more interested in maintaining power than actually working toward a solution with foreign allies, the Times of Israel reported.
“It is impossible to understand the level of disconnect and cynicism of the prime minister, who is conducting a wicked political campaign during wartime, whose entire purpose is to absolve himself of responsibility, to accuse others and to create hatred,” Lapid said.
Lapid also chastised Netanyahu for allegedly comparing Oslo to the Oct. 7 terrorist attack, with the prime minister reportedly claiming that the failed peace treaty in the ’90s caused as many deaths as the Hamas invasion.
Along with pressures from the US, Israel also faces criticism from other global powers regarding the death toll in Gaza, which the Hamas-run Ministry of Health estimates at more than 17,700.
The developments came as the Israel Defense Forces revealed Tuesday that at least 13 of its soldiers slain so far in Gaza were killed by friendly fire — after being mistaken for Hamas. In all, 104 Israeli soldiers have been killed in the region.
The Israeli military said 20 soldiers died in accidents: the 13 to friendly fire, six to incidents related to weaponry or trampling, and one from “firing irregularities.”
So far, the war has claimed an unprecedented number of people in the decades of violence between Israelis and Palestinians.
It also has destroyed nearly a fifth of the buildings in the Gaza Strip, many in its northern section, the UN said Tuesday after reviewing before and after satellite images of the region.
With the war ongoing across Gaza, the IDF added that it has been able to reclaimed the bodies of two hostages who were being held in the Palestinian enclave.
Soldiers repatriated the bodies of Golani Brigade Warrant Officer Ziv Dado, 36, and 28-year-old Eden Zacharia, who was abducted from the Nova festival Oct. 7, the IDF said in a statement Tuesday.
Dado was killed during the terrorist attack, but the IDF did not provide further details on how Zacharia died or whether she was killed Oct. 7 or while in captivity.
Zacharia was last heard on a telephone call with her father shouting that Hamas was shooting at the festival-goers after invading the site of the desert rave.
Israel estimated that there are 137 hostages remaining in Gaza, including at least 20 corpses. The count will likely be updated with the retrieval of Dado and Zacharia’s bodies.