“As we pursue peace, Gaza and the West Bank should be reunited under a single leadership structure, in the future under a revitalized Palestinian Authority, as we all work toward a two-state solution,” the president wrote in The Washington Post.
Israel’s closest ally, the United States, has given Israel its full support since the terrorist-labeled Hamas shock attack against the country on October 7.
“Two-state solution the only way”
In the attack, 1,200 people were killed, most of them civilians. Over 200 people were taken hostage by Hamas.
But as the death toll from Israel’s retaliatory campaign against Hamas in Gaza rises by the day — at least 12,300 according to the Hamas-led health ministry in the Strip, including more than 5,000 children — the United States has expressed concern about Gaza’s long-term future once Hamas is crushed.
“A two-state solution is the only way to ensure the long-term security of both the Israeli and Palestinian people. While right now it may seem as if that future has never been further away, this crisis has made it more imperative than ever,” writes the American president.
Sanctions against settlers
Biden also threatens sanctions against Israeli settlers who commit violence against Palestinians in the West Bank while the war in Gaza is ongoing.
“I have emphatically said in conversations with Israel that extremist violence against Palestinians in the West Bank must stop and that those behind the violence must be held accountable,” he writes in the article.
“The United States is ready to take its own steps, including issuing visa bans against extremists who attack civilians in the West Bank,” Joe Biden continues.