Two-state solution remains key to Middle East peace

At the start of a Cabinet meeting on Sunday, hours after his return from Washington, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that his meetings with US President Donald Trump, and his other US meetings, resulted in "tremendous achievements that can ensure Israel's security for generations".

Trump had previously spoken about the United States taking over control of Gaza after the war, clearing it of its residents and turning it into the "Riviera of the Middle East", a stance the US president reiterated in an interview on Sunday despite the wide opposition against it. Israeli and US officials have insisted that the displacement would be both voluntary and temporary.

The haste with which the Israeli leader bragged about the achievements of his visit to the US, the first since the Trump administration's inauguration three weeks ago, demonstrates his dire need to secure the new US administration's support for his war goals. To tightly bind the US and Israel over the Middle East crisis, something he tried to do during his last visit to the US in late July, continues to be one of his key objectives.

The ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas which was inked shortly before the Trump administration took office is seen as a concession of the Netanyahu government, if not a favor it did to help Trump realize his election pledge that he would end the war in Gaza shortly after taking office, in exchange for the Trump administration's support for it to realize its war goals in spite of the ceasefire.

That also explains why he stressed to his Cabinet at the Sunday meeting that Trump highlighted Israel's achievement "in breaking the Iranian axis", adding that Trump agreed with him that "all the goals of the war that we set must be completed: eliminating Hamas, returning all our hostages, ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel, bringing back all the residents in the north and the south, and, of course, preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons".

Trump's plan for postwar Gaza, as Netanyahu said, might indeed "open up many possibilities" for Israel. But the possibilities include more wars and sufferings for the region, including Israel.

Gaza belongs to the Palestinian people, rather than the US. It is an inalienable part of the territory of Palestine, not a bargaining chip for political games between Tel Aviv and Washington.

The Israel-Hamas war has already left Gaza devastated and its residents' suffering. The international community, the US included, should join hands to make Gaza better, rather than worse. What Gaza needs is humanitarian assistance and help with its reconstruction.

The second phase of the truce talks between Israel and Hamas will be held in Qatar soon. The negotiations should stick to the right path and resist external interference.

China firmly supports the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, believes that "the Palestinians governing Palestine" is an important principle that must be upheld in the post-conflict governance of Gaza, and opposes the forced displacement of the people of Gaza.

As the Chinese Foreign Ministry said via a spokesperson, China stands ready to work with the rest of the world for the realization of the two-state solution as the fundamental way forward, and for an early, just political settlement of the Palestinian question, namely, the establishment of an independent State of Palestine that enjoys full sovereignty based on the 1967 border and with east Jerusalem as its capital.