By Zein Khalil
JERUSALEM (AA) – The Israeli government on Sunday approved a declaration rejecting unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state.
“Israel categorically rejects international diktats around a permanent settlement with the Palestinians,” reads the Cabinet decision cited by The Times of Israel.
“A settlement, if it is achieved, will come about only through direct negotiations between the sides, with no preconditions.”
Ahead of a cabinet meeting on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he will present a declaration rejecting international pressure “to impose a Palestinian state on Israel unilaterally.”
“Israel will continue to oppose a unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state,” the cabinet decision said, terming such a move as a “massive, unprecedented prize for terror.”
According to the Washington Post newspaper, the US and a number of Arab countries are finalizing a long-term peace plan between Israel and Palestinians. The plan includes ''a firm timeline for the establishment of a Palestinian state, that could be announced as early as the next several weeks,'' it said.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Saturday that Israel has a great opportunity to achieve peace with Palestinians, adding that the creation of a Palestinian state has become an urgent need.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It annexed the entire city in 1980, claiming all of Jerusalem as its “eternal and undivided” capital in a move never recognized by the international community.
The Palestinians, for their part, hope to establish an independent state of their own in the Gaza Strip and West Bank with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 Hamas attack. The ensuing Israeli attacks have killed nearly 29,000 and caused mass destruction and shortages of necessities, while less than 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.
The Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85% of the territory's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.
Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.
* Writing by Ikram Kouachi