Israeli parliament approves proposal rejecting ‘unilateral’ creation of Palestinian state

Israeli lawmakers voted on Wednesday to back Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s rejection of any “unilateral” recognition of a Palestinian state, as international calls have grown for the revival of Palestinian statehood negotiations.

Issued amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, the symbolic declaration also received backing from members of the opposition, with 99 of 120 lawmakers voting in support and nine against.

The Israeli position says any permanent accord with the Palestinians must be reached through direct negotiations between the sides and not by international dictates.

Israel will not accept “imposed solutions,” Netanyahu said on social media.

“This strong stance sends a powerful message to the world: Peace and security for Israel will be achieved through negotiations, not through unilateral actions,” he said.

Demonstrators protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in front of the prime minister’s office in Jerusalem on Monday, calling for new elections and criticizing his handling of the Israel-Hamas war. (Ohad Zwigenburg/The Associated Press)

The vote drew condemnation from the Palestinian Foreign Ministry, which accused Israel of holding the rights of the Palestinian people hostage by forceful occupation of territories where Palestinians seek to establish a state.

“The ministry reaffirms that the State of Palestine’s full membership in the United Nations and its recognition by other nations does not require permission from Netanyahu,” it said in a statement.

Little progress has been made toward achieving a two-state solution — a Palestinian state in the occupied West Bank and in Gaza alongside Israel — since the signing of the interim Oslo Accords in the early 1990s in Washington, D.C.

Among the obstacles impeding Palestinian statehood are expanding Israeli settlements in territories Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war.

The two-state solution has long been a core Western policy in the region. Since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October, the U.S. has been trying to promote steps toward the creation of a Palestinian state as part of a broader Middle East deal that would include Saudi Arabia and other Arab states officially normalizing relations with Israel.

LISTEN l Canadian UN ambassador Bob Rae on the current state of the war: 

The Current15:22‘Strong desire’ from international community for ceasefire in Gaza: Canada’s UN ambassador

With Israel widening the war by preparing for a ground assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, despite mounting opposition from foreign countries given the implication for civilians there, some influential European politicians have voiced support for potentially recognizing a Palestinian state sooner.

”Recognizing a Palestinian state is not a taboo for France,” French President Emmanuel Macron said last week. ”We owe it to Palestinians, whose aspirations have been trampled on for too long.”

British Foreign Minister David Cameron said earlier this month that the U.K. could officially recognize a Palestinian state after a ceasefire in Gaza.

Strikes reported in several Gaza locations

On Wednesday, the Israeli army said it had intensified its operations in Khan Younis, a city just north of Rafah. It did not mention any attacks on Rafah itself, and did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

About 1.5 million people are estimated to be crammed into Rafah, on the southernmost fringe of the enclave close to the boundary with Egypt. Most of them have fled their homes further north to escape Israel’s military onslaught.

A Palestinian man inspects the site of an Israeli strike in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Wednesday. (Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters)

Rafah residents reached by text message reported several airstrikes and large explosions in the city, as well as naval boats opening fire on beachfront areas.

Reuters video journalists filmed the aftermath of a strike on the home of the Al-Noor family in Rafah, which was reduced to rubble, showing more than a dozen bodies wrapped in white or black shrouds and bereaved relatives at a Rafah hospital.

Abdulrahman Juma said his wife Noor, who was from the Al-Noor family, as well as his one-year-old daughter Kinza, had both been killed in the strike, along with Noor’s parents, brother and other relatives.

Residents of Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza and Khan Younis also reported overnight strikes and deaths, and multiple funerals were taking place on Wednesday morning.

The Israel Defence Forces’ daily summary mentioned a targeted raid in the Zaytun area in northern Gaza, and operations in Khan Younis.

“Troops of the Givati Brigade conducted activities in eastern Khan Younis and killed approximately 20 terrorists in encounters over the past day,” it said.

WATCH l UN Security Council again at impasse on Gaza: U.S. vetoes latest UN Security Council ceasefire resolution in GazaFor the third time, the U.S. has vetoed a UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Meanwhile, the UN World Food Program says it cannot get food to the north of the Gaza Strip because of safety concerns.

Gaza’s health ministry said a total of 69,333 people had been injured in Gaza since the start of the war on Oct. 7, in addition to the 29,313 deaths, with 118 killed in the past 24 hours.

The war was triggered after Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people including several Canadians and taking 253 hostage, according to Israel. The Israeli government believes some 130 people remain accounted for.

Aid deliveries go from bad to worse

Meanwhile, the flow of aid entering Gaza from Egypt has almost dried up in the past two weeks, according to UN data and officials.

Before the conflict, Gaza relied on 500 trucks with supplies entering daily, and even during intense fighting in January, around 200 aid trucks made it through on most days.

But according to the UN figures, from Feb. 9 to Feb. 20, the daily average fell to just 57 trucks.

Israel, which checks all trucks entering Gaza from both crossings, blames the United Nations for the fall-off in deliveries, and says it is prepared to speed up the clearance of aid.

The UN says it is becoming more difficult to distribute aid inside Gaza because of the collapse of security inside the strip, where most residents are now hemmed into makeshift camps. 

On Tuesday, the UN World Food Program said it was pausing limited deliveries to northern Gaza, just two days after they restarted, after their convoys faced crowds trying to climb aboard trucks, gunfire in Gaza City, the seizure of flour and the beating of a truck driver.