Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed, saying he would never approve the creation of a Palestinian state, dismissing claims the two sides had reached agreement that Israel would chart "a path toward Palestinian statehood" as part of normalization bids with Saudi Arabia.
"Prime Minister Netanyahu has acted and continues to act against the establishment of a Palestinian state," his office said on Tuesday in a statement, describing the reports as "completely false".The statement added that such a move would "endanger Israel's security".
Israeli media earlier reported that a concession on Palestinian statehood was being considered as part of ongoing negotiations for a normalisation agreement with Saudi Arabia.Meanwhile, the Saudis also strongly deny the report, saying there has been no breakthrough.
"The notion that the kingdom's leadership has somehow modified its longstanding commitment to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state is equally baseless," a statement issued to reporters by an unnamed Saudi official said.
"The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will continue to work towards ending the war in Gaza and helping the Palestinian people achieve their right to an independent state," the statement added.Netanyahu, who has long regarded formal ties with the kingdom as a key strategic objective, dismissed the reports.Israel captured the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Middle East war.
Palestinians want to establish an independent state in those territories.Netanyahu's remarks come in the face of growing worldwide condemnation of Israel's offensive in Gaza, which Israel launched in October.
International condemnation of the offensive grew, with Netanyahu and other top officials in Israel facing war crimes charges in The Hague at the International Criminal Court. Instead, Netanyahu has suggested that Arab nations such as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia will be contributing to the running of Gaza after the war.
However, those nations and others in the Middle East have made it known that they will not play a role in the reconstruction or management of Gaza in the aftermath of a war, without the Palestinian Authority being in place.
The US and Israeli security establishment has further cautioned that failing to achieve an alternative viable to rule by Hamas is going to give the terrorist group enough space to re-fill gaps created by its operations against the IDF in Gaza.
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