"I'm hearing that I will allow the establishment of a Palestinian state in Gaza, this hasn't happened, and it will not happen... I think you all know that the person who has repeatedly blocked the establishment of a Palestinian state is me," Netanyahu said in a televised press conference.
"Israel will exercise security control from the Jordan to the sea, and that applies to the Gaza Strip as well."
The Israeli PM, wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity in the genocidal war on th the strip, added that Israel was focusing on its goals of "disarming Hamas and demilitarizing Gaza" after the return of the last captive from the Palestinian territory a day earlier.
"Now we are focused on completing the two remaining tasks: disarming Hamas and demilitarizing Gaza of weapons and tunnels."
Phase II
Netanyahu's fiery speech and his reiteration of long-held opposition to a Palestinian state comes as the 15-member Palestinian Gaza Administrion Committee prepares to govern the strip as stipulated in the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
The ceasefire, which was brokered by Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and the US in Sharm El-Shiekh and in effect since 10 October, aims to end the genocide in Gaza.
The ceasefire agreement stipulates, in its first phase, the start of the withdrawal of the Israeli occupation army from Gaza, the reopening of all border crossings to the strip, the unfettered entry of humanitarian aid to alleviate hunger among the population in its first phase, and, in its second phase, the deployment of an International Stabilzation Force to mantain security in the strip.
Tel Aviv had refused to implement the terms of the ceasefire plan under the guise of retrieving the remains of one last captive from the strip, carrying out daily strikes that killed nearly 500 Palestinians and wounding nearly 1,400 since 11 October 2025.
Israel has also continued to enforce its blockade on the strip, keeping all border crossings more-or-less closed and heavily restricting winter shelters and life-saving aid, failing to abide by the ceasefire terms that demanded unfettered aid access for the famine-hit territory.
On Monday, Tel Aviv's’s stated "justification" for delaying key provisions of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire faded after its military announced the recovery and identification of the remains of the last Israeli captive held in the territory.
Days earlier, US President Donald Trump announced the formation of the Gaza Board of Peace to oversee the implementation of the ceaefire and the reconstruction of the strip. Israel, along with ceasefire brokers Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey, accepted Trump;s invitation to join the board. However, the Trump administration, in coordination with the Isreali side, excluded the Palestinian Authority from joining the effort.
Hamas stance on arms
In its rejection of the US/Israeli demand it disarms, Hamas has maintained that the right to resist th Israeli occupation is guaranteed under international law.
In mid December, Khalil Al-Hayya, the head of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, said Palestinian armed resistance is “a legitimate right guaranteed by international law” for people living under occupation.
Speaking at a Hamas event, Al-Hayya said the right to armed resistance is tied to the establishment of a Palestinian state and applies to all peoples under occupation.However, he added, the group was “open to studying any proposals that preserve this right.”
However, the Palestinian resistance group has agreed to hand over governonace of the strip to the Gaza Administration Committee, and indicaed its readiness to freeze its weapons in an interim period until they can be entrusted to a Palestinian authority in the future.
Pressuring Tel Aviv to open Rafah
Netanyahu's speech also comes a day after Egypt, which has led international efforts to deliver aid to the famished strip over the last two and a half years, applied pressure on the Israeli side to secure a first step towards the operation of the Rafah Crossing with the Gaza Strip.
The reopening of the Rafah crossing would allow for the exit of 20,000 injured Gazans for treatment and the return of Gazans who were stranded outside the territory due to the war.
It was in the second week of October upon the signing of the ceasefire agreement on the Israeli genocidal war on Gaza that the Israeli occupation authorities were supposed to open the Rafah Crossing which connects Gaza with Egypt.
However, Tel Aviv has kept procrastinating on reopening the border crossings in violation of the terms of the truce agreement.
But at midnight of 29 January, the crossing is slated to start to operate to allow for the limited exit and entry of Palestinians from and into the Israeli-besieged Gaza Strip.
“We are waiting to start operations, and we are hopeful that this time Israel will honour its commitments,” said an Egyptian official on Tuesday morning.
Short link: