Gaza’s Health Ministry claimed on Monday that more than 20,600 Palestinians have been killed in IDF attacks since the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on October 7.
There are “three prerequisites” for peace between Israel and the Palestinians, including the destruction of Hamas, the demilitarization of Gaza and the de-radicalization of Palestinian society, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed.
On the first condition, Netanyahu noted that the US, Britain, France, Germany and “many other countries” support Israel’s push to destroy Hamas.
He recalled that Hamas leaders have vowed to repeat the October 7 attack ” again and again,” which is why the destruction of the Palestinian militant group is “the only proportional response to prevent the repeat of such horrific atrocities,” he added.
The Israeli prime minister vowed to act in full accordance with international law in destroying Hamas, accusing the group of using Palestinian civilians as human shields. Israel, for its part, is doing its utmost to minimize civilian casualties, Netanyahu said.
Still, the death toll from Israeli bombardments of Gaza continues to rise, with Gaza’s health ministry claiming that at least 20,674 Palestinians have been killed in indiscriminate IDF attacks since October 7, adding that most of the fatalities have been women and children. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last week that Israel’s campaign must shift from large-scale attacks to more precise operations to reduce the toll on Palestinian civilians.
On the second condition for peace, Netanyahu insisted that Israel must retain “overriding security responsibility over Gaza” and rejected the possibility of Palestinian Authority supervision of the territory.
According to Netanyahu, Israel must ensure that Gaza is “never again used as a base to attack” the Jewish state.
The prime minister added that the demilitarization of Gaza would require the establishment of a temporary security zone on the perimeter of territory and “an inspection mechanism on the border between Gaza and Egypt that meets Israel’s security needs and prevents smuggling of weapons into the territory.”
Regarding the deradicalization of Gaza, Netanyahu continued, change must come from the Palestinian leadership as well as from what students are taught in schools. The prime minister added that he believes the change is possible, citing the successes in forging the Arab-Israeli normalization-related 2020 Abraham Accords and pointing to the progress made since World War II.
“Successful deradicalization took place in Germany and Japan after the Allied victory in World War II. Today, both nations are great allies of the US and promote peace, stability and prosperity in Europe and Asia,” Netanyahu wrote.
He concluded the piece by arguing that if these three conditions were met, Gaza could be rebuilt and the prospect of a broader peace in the Middle East would “become a reality.”
The article was published as Netanyahu vowed to expand the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) operation in Gaza, saying the war was far from over.
On October 7, Hamas launched a large-scale rocket attack from the Gaza Strip against Israel, which retaliated by ordering a complete blockade of Gaza and launching a ground invasion.
