RSS
Contradicting Biden, Netanyahu Says He Rules Out a Sovereign Palestinian State
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a press conference with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz in the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv, Israel, Oct. 28, 2023. Photo: ABIR SULTAN POOL/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – U.S. President Joe Biden told reporters on Friday night that a two-state solution is possible with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, despite what the Israeli leader said publicly in recent days. The Israeli leader later issued a statement underscoring his opposition to a Palestinian state.
Biden and Netanyahu appear to contradict one another on whether the Israeli leader does or does not rule out the two state solution. @albertlewitinn has the latest pic.twitter.com/gJml595ySh
— i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) January 20, 2024
At the same time, diplomatic efforts continued in order to outline a day-after the Israel-Hamas war, with pushes toward a two-state solution, as discussed by Biden and a New York Times reporter close to the administration, Thomas Friedman.
Friedman summarized the Biden strategy in a Friday column for the NYT, to force Netanyahu to either “reject any collaboration with Palestinians” and “go down in history as the leader who presided over Oct. 7,” or cooperate with international diplomatic efforts and “be the Israeli leader who delivered a Palestinian state able to guarantee Israeli security and opened the road to peace with the Saudis and the wider Muslim world.”
Outlining the plan as starting with a short-term ceasefire deal to release hostages, held in Gaza since the Hamas-led October 7 attacks, then allowing Palestinians to administratively manage the Strip.
“With the promise of eventual Palestinian control — some kind an Arab multinational force would be prepared to move in. A lot would depend, though, on the state of Hamas’s military forces and whether Hamas’s surviving leaders and maybe some senior fighters would be allowed to go to a third country,” Friedman added, citing a senior U.S. official.
As part of the reported plan, the Palestinian Authority would then go through a process of reform which would include elections, and “the West and Arab states would help this authority build proper institutions, including a security force for Gaza and the West Bank.” At the same time, the normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and other Muslim-majority nations would start taking place.
In regards to Biden’s comments on Netanyahu being open to a two-station solution, and how that might look like, the U.S. President said “there are a number of types of two-state solutions.”
“There’s a number of countries that are members of the UN that are still — don’t have their own militaries. Number of states that have limitations on … And so I think there’s ways in which this could work,” Biden explained.
Biden and Netanyahu discussed attributes of a future Palestinian state in a “detailed” and “serious” conversation, a person familiar with the conversation told CNN.
Netanyahu’s office issued a statement clarifying the leader’s stance.
“In his conversation last night with President Biden, Prime Minister Netanyahu repeated his consistent position for years, which he also expressed at a press conference the day before: after the elimination of Hamas, Israel must remain in full security control of the Gaza Strip to ensure that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel, and this conflicts with the demand for Palestinian sovereignty.”
The post Contradicting Biden, Netanyahu Says He Rules Out a Sovereign Palestinian State first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
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.”
RSS
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.
RSS
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.