Jordan responds to Netanyahu: No Arab support without Palestinian approval

A senior Jordanian official responded, in a special statement to Reuters yesterday, Thursday, August 7, to the statements of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding the future of the Gaza Strip, confirming that Arab countries will not support any plan or arrangements in Gaza that do not have the approval of the Palestinians themselves.

The official said: "Arabs will not agree to Netanyahu's policies, and they will not fix what he has ruined," in the first official comment from a neighboring Arab country on the recent Israeli statements.

Netanyahu had stated in an interview with Fox News that Israel intends to take full military control of the Gaza Strip, but does not wish to govern it permanently; rather, it seeks to later hand it over to "Arab forces" to manage it appropriately.

Netanyahu refused to provide details about the Arab countries that might participate in this arrangement or the proposed form of administration.

Netanyahu said: "We intend to take full control of Gaza. We do not want to keep it, we do not want to govern it or be there as a ruling entity. We want a security perimeter around us, and we want Gaza to be handed over to Arab forces that manage it properly, without a threat to us, and provide a decent life for the residents of the strip."

He added that implementing such a plan is "impossible in the presence of Hamas."

The Jordanian official emphasized that security in Gaza must be achieved through legitimate Palestinian institutions, not through external parties imposing solutions from outside, in a clear reference to rejecting the idea of handing over the strip to Arab forces without comprehensive Palestinian approval.

For its part, Hamas considered Netanyahu's statements as "a coup against the negotiation process" aimed at reaching a ceasefire in the strip.

It stated in an official statement issued on Thursday that "Netanyahu's plans to escalate aggression confirm that he seeks to rid himself of his captives and sacrifice them for his personal interests."

The statement added that the Israeli occupation uses the issue of prisoners as a pretext to continue the attack on Gaza and achieve internal political gains.

Netanyahu's statements came before a mini-meeting that included several of his ministers to discuss the Israeli army's plans to seize more land within the Gaza Strip, while military operations continue alongside international diplomatic attempts to halt the escalation.