The US Doctrine to Form a Palestinian State

Recent statements made by US officials have outlined a possible path to establish a Palestinian state based on certain criteria and mechanisms.

On Thursday, US President Joe Biden said that his country is "actively pursuing the establishment as an independent Palestinian state," adding that Washington is also working for peace and the return of hostages from Gaza.

Reports indicated that the Biden administration is considering several options to recognize a demilitarized independent Palestinian state as part of efforts to determine the situation after the end of the Israeli war on Gaza and the nature of the legitimate authority.

- Three tracks

The Biden administration has begun to formulate and take several steps in the Middle East within the framework of the new "Biden Doctrine" in the region, which is a multi-pronged approach.

It aims to ensure that the current crisis in the Middle East does not develop into a comprehensive disaster.

Prominent US journalist Thomas Friedman unveiled the new Biden doctrine for the Middle East in his op-ed in the New York Times.

In his article, Friedman discussed that the administration must have "a strong and resolute stance on Iran, including a robust military retaliation against Iran's proxies and agents in the region."

The second track, as determined by Friedman, would be an "unprecedented US diplomatic initiative to promote a Palestinian state" as soon as possible, which would involve some form of recognition of a demilitarized Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza.

However, that can only be achieved "once Palestinians had developed a set of defined, credible institutions and security capabilities to ensure that this state was viable and that it could never threaten Israel."

On the third track would be a vastly expanded alliance between the Palestinians, Israel, the US, and regional countries to ensure the continuation and success of the plan.

On Wednesday, Axios reported that Secretary of State Antony Blinken asked the State Department to conduct a review and present policy options on possible US and international recognition of a Palestinian state after the war in Gaza.

Some inside the Biden administration are now thinking that "recognition of a Palestinian state should possibly be the first step in negotiations to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."

However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the idea of creating a Palestinian state, adding that this conflict “is not about the absence of a (Palestinian) state but about the existence of a state, the Jewish state."

In press statements, Netanyahu asserted he would not stop the war until total victory, meaning a demilitarized Gaza, warning that "ending the war before the goals are achieved would broadcast a message of weakness."

- Sanctions against settlers

The US issued on Thursday an executive order targeting Israeli settlers in the West Bank who have been attacking Palestinians.

In the order, Biden said that extremist settler violence in the West Bank had "reached intolerable levels and constituted a serious threat to the peace, security, and stability of the West Bank and Gaza, Israel, and the broader Middle East region."

US experts said the order targets persons accused of attacks or "terrorist actions" that undermine "peace, stability, and security" in the West Bank, where settlers have increased their attacks against Palestinians.

The first round of sanctions under the new executive order includes four Israeli settlers who the US said were directly involved in attacks against Palestinians and systematic acts that led to the forced displacement of Palestinian communities.

The settlers' assets and bank accounts in the US will be frozen, and no one will be allowed to trade or transfer their money through the US financial system.

Last December, Washington imposed visa bans on several dozen Israeli settlers believed to be involved in attacks against Palestinians, preventing them from traveling to the US.

The move came as Biden was heading to Michigan, the pivotal state in the upcoming presidential elections on Nov. 4, inhabited by a large number of US citizens of Arab origin.

Arab-US citizens expressed anger over Biden's support of Israel.

Commenting on the sanctions, a top US official said the US President has always expressed his concern over Israeli settler violence.

The official, who asked not to be named, warned that these actions constitute a serious threat to the peace, security, and stability of the West Bank, Israel, and the Middle East.

He explained that settler attacks undermined the establishment of a Palestinian state in the long run.

The West Bank is home to over 3,000,000 Palestinians and about 490,000 Israeli settlers residing in illegal settlements under international law.

Israeli troops battled Palestinian fighters in Khan Younis in southern Gaza and destroyed tunnels and other infrastructure, as they sought to suppress small militant units that have continued to hit troops with mortar fire, the military said on Friday.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said troops had killed around 100 Palestinian fighters since Israeli troops began their latest operation in Khan Younis on Monday, which continued as pressure mounted for a deal to halt the fighting.

It said seven small units that had been firing mortars at the troops were hit in an air strike, while further south, in Rafah, four fighters were also killed in air strikes.

The Islamic Jihad armed wing said it fired rockets toward the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon and other Israeli towns near Gaza. No casualties were reported, the Israeli ambulance service said.

The continued fighting, more than nine months since the start of Israel's invasion of Gaza following the Oct. 7 attack, underlined the difficulty the IDF has had in eliminating fighters who have reverted to a form of guerrilla warfare in the ruins of the coastal strip.

A Telegram channel operated by the armed wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the two main militant groups in Gaza, said fighters had been waging fierce battles with Israeli troops east of Khan Younis with machine guns, mortars and anti-tank weapons.

Medics said at least six Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes in eastern Khan Younis.

US PRESSURE

US President Joe Biden, and Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic Party nominee for president, both urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a proposed ceasefire deal as soon as possible.

However there has been no clear sign of movement in talks to end the fighting and bring home some 115 Israeli and foreign hostages still being held in Gaza. Public statements from Israel and Hamas appear to indicate that serious differences remain between the two sides.

Local residents contacted by messenger app, said Israeli tanks had pushed into three towns to the east of Khan Younis, Bani Suhaila, Al-Zanna and Al-Karara and blew up several houses in some residential districts.

The military said air force jets hit around 45 targets, including tunnels and two launch pads from which rockets were fired into Beersheba in southern Israel.

Even while the fighting continued around Khan Younis and Rafah in the south, in the northern part of the enclave, Israeli tanks pushed into the Tel Al-Hawa suburb west of Gaza city, residents said.

A Hamas Telegram channel said fighters targeted an Israeli tank in Tal Al-Hawa and shot an Israeli soldier.

Medics said two Palestinians were also killed in an air strike in western Gaza city.

More than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed in the fighting in Gaza, according to local health authorities, who do not distinguish between fighters and non-combatants.

Israeli officials estimate that some 14,000 fighters from armed groups including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, have been killed or taken prisoner, out of a force they estimated to number more than 25,000 at the start of the war.

The US Doctrine to Form a Palestinian State