Shafaq News – Middle East

Israel reaffirmed its rejection of a Palestinian state on Sunday, ahead of a UN Security Council vote on a US-backed resolution outlining President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan.

“Israel’s policy is clear: No Palestinian state will be established,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz wrote on X, insisting that Gaza “will be demilitarized down to the last tunnel.”

He also stressed that Hamas must be fully disarmed, whether by the Israeli military or by an international force— a demand the Palestinian group has consistently rejected.

The Security Council will vote Monday on the US draft, which proposes a political and security framework for Gaza following the ceasefire that ended the two-year Israeli war, which killed more than 65,000 people, mostly women and children, according to Gaza health authorities.

The resolution “welcomes the establishment of the Board of Peace,” a transitional governing body for Gaza that Trump would theoretically chair through the end of 2027. It also authorizes a “temporary International Stabilization Force (ISF)” to work with Israel, Egypt, and newly trained Palestinian police on border security and demilitarization.

For the first time, the latest draft mentions the possibility of a future Palestinian state — a clause Israel continues to reject. The United States, along with Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Turkiye, has urged the Council to adopt the text without delay.

On Syria, Katz confirmed that the army will remain on Mount Hermon (Jabal al-Sheikh) and in what Israel refers to as its security zone. Since the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December 2024, Israel has intensified operations inside Syria, striking depots, vehicles, and weapons sites, while expanding its presence in the buffer zone separating the Golan Heights from Syrian territory, including parts of Mount Hermon.

Read more: Israel's expansion in Syria: A looming threat to Iraq