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Israel’s Top Diplomat Says Establishing ‘Palestine’ at This Time Would Create a ‘Hamas State’
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar attends a joint press conference with Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani (not pictured), in Rome, Italy, Jan. 14, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said on Tuesday that granting statehood to the Palestinians at this time would result in a terrorist-controlled “Hamas state,” commenting on the issue hours after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken endorsed the recognition of a Palestinian state.
“In the current situation, establishing a Palestinian state will surely be a Hamas state,” Sa’ar told a reporter who asked about Blinken’s comments during a joint press conference with Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani in Rome.
“A Hamas state will not only not solve the conflict, but will deteriorate security, peace, and stability of the region,” the top Israeli diplomat added.
Hamas, an internationally designated terrorist group, ruled the Palestinian enclave of Gaza for nearly two decades and repeatedly attacked Israel before launching its invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, starting a 15-month war with the Jewish state.
Amid the Gaza war, some European countries last year officially recognized a Palestinian state, arguing such a move would help foster a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and lead to lasting peace in the region. The move promoted outrage in Israel, which described the decision as a “reward for terrorism” and an “incitement to genocide” against the Jewish people.
Sa’ar also addressed the Palestinian Authority (PA), which has long been riddled with allegations of corruption and authoritarianism while governing the Palestinians in the West Bank
“There is a reason why the Palestinian Authority didn’t make elections since 2005,” he said, seemingly acknowledging polling showing the PA’s unpopularity with the general Palestinian population, a large portion of which says it prefers Hamas.
Sa’ar argued that, in order for the PA to become a possible peace partner, Ramallah must stop its policy of rewarding terrorists.
“If they will stop poisoning the minds of future generations, we might have a chance to go forward in a path for real peace,” he said.
The PA has long had a so-called “pay for slay” program, which makes official payments to Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, the families of “martyrs” killed in attacks on Israelis, and injured Palestinian terrorists.
Meanwhile, studies by both nonprofits and governmental bodies have shown for years that Palestinian textbooks for schoolchildren promote antisemitic incitement and violence.
Sa’ar’s comments came after Blinken said in a speech that Israel “must embrace a time-bound, conditions-based path toward forming an independent Palestinian state.”
“Israel will have to accept reuniting Gaza and the West Bank under the leadership of a reformed PA,” Blinken said while presenting his proposal for the “day after” the war in Gaza at the Atlantic Council think tank in Washington, DC.
The top US diplomat argued that the PA was the “only viable alternative” to Iran-backed Hamas but that the Israeli government was undermining its “capacity and legitimacy.”
During his speech, Blinken outlined a plan in which the PA and international partners would “run an interim administration,” which in turn would “hand over complete responsibility to a fully reformed PA administration as soon as it’s feasible.”
Sa’ar, who was in Italy as part of a broader diplomatic tour in Europe, had to cut his visit to the continent short and fly home overnight on Wednesday to take part in security cabinet and government discussions over the newly announced Israel-Hamas ceasefire, which is meant to halt fighting in Gaza and release the hostages kidnapped during Hamas’s Oct. 7 onslaught.
The post Israel’s Top Diplomat Says Establishing ‘Palestine’ at This Time Would Create a ‘Hamas State’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.