Netanyahu says Israel, US differ about post-war Gaza rule

JERUSALEM (Agencies) : Israel enjoys US support for its goals of destroying Hamas and recovering hostages held by the Palestinian militants, but the allies differ about what might follow the Gaza war, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday.

Reiterating his past refusal to countenance a return to Gaza rule of the Western-backed Palestinian Authority under President Mahmoud Abbas, Netanyahu said in a statement that Gaza “will be neither Hamas-stan nor ‘Fatah-stan’.” Fatah is Abbas’ faction.

“I would like to clarify my position: I will not allow Israel to repeat the mistake of Oslo,” Netanyahu said without clarifying which mistake he was referring to.

The 1993 Oslo Accords established limited Palestinian autonomy in the West Bank and Gaza.

On Tuesday, secretary general of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization Hussein al-Sheikh responded to reports that the Israeli premier had compared the Oslo Accords to Hamas’ massacre on October 7 by saying both had caused a similar amount of Israeli deaths.

“Benjamin Netanyahu’s statement equating the Oslo Accords with what happened on October 7 confirms his war against all Palestinians,” al-Sheikh said. “We say to Netanyahu that Oslo died under the treads of his tanks, sweeping through our cities, villages, and camps from Jenin to Rafah.”

Israel is pressing ahead with an offensive against Gaza’s Hamas rulers that it says could go on for weeks or months.

Ahead of a non-binding vote at the United Nations later Tuesday, Israel and the US face global calls for a ceasefire in Gaza.

More than 17,700 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, around two-thirds of them women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory.

About 90 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced within the besieged territory, where United Nations agencies say there is no safe place to flee.

The war began when Hamas raided southern Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking about 240 hostages.