Israel's Netanyahu Says Palestinian State Recognition a 'Reward for Terror'

Oded Balilty / File photo by The AP
Oded Balilty / File photo by The AP
TT

Israel's Netanyahu Says Palestinian State Recognition a 'Reward for Terror'

Oded Balilty / File photo by The AP
Oded Balilty / File photo by The AP

Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu said the recognition of the State of Palestine by Spain, Ireland and Norway on Wednesday was a "reward for terror".

"The intention of several European countries to recognize a Palestinian state is a reward for terror," he said in a statement, adding a sovereign State of Palestine would be a "terror state" that would "try to repeatedly carry out the massacre of October 7th".

Also, the White House said Wednesday it opposed "unilateral recognition" of a Palestinian state.

President Joe Biden "has been on the record supporting a two-state solution," his national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, told reporters.

"He has been equally emphatic on the record that that two-state solution should be brought about through direct negotiations through the parties, not through unilateral recognition," he said, AFP reported.

He stopped short of criticizing the decision to formally recognize the State of Palestine by the three European countries, all close allies of the United States.

"Each country is entitled to make its own determinations, but the US position on this is clear," Sullivan said.

For his part, Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told Netanyahu that he wants to take retaliatory action including severing an arrangement in which Norway handles funds intended to the Palestinian Authority.

Under peace agreements brokered in part by Norway in the 1990s, Israel collects money for the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited autonomy in parts of the West Bank.

But Israel has blocked transfers since the aftermath of the October 7 attack.

Sullivan said that funds should keep going to the Palestinian Authority which the Biden administration wants to strengthen in hopes it can assume control of Gaza from Hamas.

"I think it's wrong on a strategic basis, because withholding funds destabilizes the West Bank," Sullivan said of Israeli moves to stop funds.

"It undermines the search for security and prosperity for the Palestinian people which is in Israel's interests, and, I think, it's wrong to withhold funds that provide basic goods and services to innocent people," he said.

Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have been pushing Israel to move forward on a timeline for a Palestinian state, in part by dangling the prospect of Saudi Arabia normalizing relations with Israel.

But Washington vetoed a recent UN Security Council bid to recognize the State of Palestine, saying that recognition could only come through negotiations that take into account Israel's security interests.



Türkiye Fortifies its Positions in Idlib Ahead of Possible Military Escalation

Turkish tanks are seen in areas adjacent to regions held by the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northern Syria. (Turkish Defense Ministry file)
Turkish tanks are seen in areas adjacent to regions held by the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northern Syria. (Turkish Defense Ministry file)
TT

Türkiye Fortifies its Positions in Idlib Ahead of Possible Military Escalation

Turkish tanks are seen in areas adjacent to regions held by the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northern Syria. (Turkish Defense Ministry file)
Turkish tanks are seen in areas adjacent to regions held by the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northern Syria. (Turkish Defense Ministry file)

The Turkish army has brought in military and logistic reinforcements to its positions in de-escalation zones in Syria’s Idlib that lie in the areas covered in the agreement reached between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The reinforcements were concentrated in the sourthern Idlib region, while on the other side, Syrian troops have also been amassing.

Damascus sent a missile system from the Raqqa and Sabrin airports in the Aleppo countryside and deployed them in areas adjacent to regions held by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and other factions.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights predicted that clashes may soon erupt between the Syrian forces and armed factions in Idlib.

Turkish forces have also been busy completing a “security line” stretching across their positions in eastern Idlib.

The Observatory said Turkish forces continued to pour into the contact lines with the Syrian troops for the third straight day.

The reinforcements began after a meeting between Putin and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in Moscow on June 11.

At the same time, sources close to the Syrian government told Turkish media that a meeting was held between Russin, Turkish and Syrian military officials at the Hmeimim air base in Syria’s Latakia.

The sources viewed the meeting as a resumption of talks between Ankara and Damascus that had been frozen for some time.

The meeting focused on developments in Idlib and its surrounding areas. This was the first meeting of its kind to be held on Syrian territories.

Turkish sources approached by Asharq Al-Awsat did not confirm or deny that the meeting was held. They did reveal, however, that Putin and Fidan had discussed the possibility of resuming Moscow-sponsored talks that began in June 2021.

The issue will be discussed during the upcoming meeting between Putin and Erdogan in July at the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Astana on July 3-4.