WASHINGTON, Aug 9: Clearing up the American stance on Palestinian statehood, US Vice President JD Vance said that at the moment, Washington has no intention of recognising Palestine, calling for the destruction of the Hamas terror group, reports Russian state-media TASS.
“We have no plans to recognize a Palestinian state. I don’t know what it would mean to really recognise a Palestinian state given the lack of a functional government there,” Vance said during a meeting at Lammy’s country residence in the south of London.
Speaking about the possible recognition of Palestine by London, Vance noted “It’s one of the things that we’re to talk about. Obviously, the United Kingdom is going to make its decision. What the President has made very clear is our two goals are very simple right now, vis a vis the situation in Israel and Gaza.
“Number one, it’s we want to make it so that Hamas cannot attack innocent Israeli civilians ever again, and we think that has to come through the eradication of Hamas.
“Second, the President has been very moved by these terrible images of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. So, we want to make sure that we solve that problem.”
On July 29, London stated that it would recognise the Palestinian state at the September UN General Assembly session if Jerusalem continued blocking deliveries of humanitarian supplies to the war-torn Gaza Strip, and did not end its military operation in the enclave.
This was met with fierce criticism from Israel, which said that it’s cabinet is considering strong retaliatory measures against London, announcing that the country’s measures could greatly harm the UK.
On July 24, French President Emmanuel Macron said Paris would recognise the State of Palestine at the same UN General Assembly session in September.
The situation in the Middle East soured after Hamas fighters made their way into the Israeli territory on October 7, 2023 killing and kidnapping residents of the border settlements.
Israel retaliated by a military operation in the enclave trying to destroy Hamas’ military and political structures and free all the abductees.
There have been several rounds of negotiations mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, though none of them have led to any kind of success.
Israel has announced its intention of capturing the entire enclave, controlling 75% of it already stating that the IDF will now enter those areas it deliberately avoided due to fears of hostage safety, with Netanyahu stating that once the whole area is annexed, Jerusalem will make way for a ‘transitional’ government there which will have no control from either Israel or the Palestinian Authority.
(UNI)
Follow our WhatsApp channel
