Netanyahu outlines 3 prerequisites in WSJ op-ed, makes no mention of hostages or two-state solution, repeats opposition to Palestinian Authority role in ruling post-war Gaza

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that before there is peace between Israel and the Palestinians, “Hamas must be destroyed, Gaza must be demilitarized, and Palestinian society must be deradicalized.”

The three prerequisites were detailed in an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal, in which the premier reiterated his stance that the Palestinian Authority is unfit to govern the Gaza Strip after Hamas is vanquished, a position that has put him at odds with US President Joe Biden’s administration.

Notably, the piece didn’t include as a prerequisite the release of the 129 hostages who were kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 and are still being held by terrorists in the Gaza Strip. The thousands of invading terrorists abducted a total of some 240 hostages that day, and killed about 1,200, mostly civilians.

The column also avoided mentioning a Palestinian state or a two-state solution, which Netanyahu regularly says he staunchly opposes.

Regarding the first condition for peace, Netanyahu wrote that “the US, UK, France, Germany, and many other countries support Israel’s intention to demolish the terror group. To achieve that goal, its military capabilities must be dismantled and its political rule over Gaza must end. Hamas’s leaders have vowed to repeat the Oct. 7 massacre ‘again and again.’ That is why their destruction is the only proportional response to prevent the repeat of such horrific atrocities. Anything less guarantees more war and more bloodshed.”

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