For the first time, a reference to a Palestinian state has appeared in a draft resolution to the UN Security Council regarding a proposed international security force for the Gaza Strip, according to a document seen by the AFP news agency. The draft states that "after the Palestinian Authority reform program is implemented with integrity and progress is made in rebuilding Gaza, the conditions may finally be ripe for a credible path to Palestinian self-determination and the establishment of a state." A new clause in the draft also says that "the United States will launch a dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians to agree on a political horizon for peaceful and prosperous coexistence." It is worth noting that this is the same wording used in the US-backed Gaza plan, however, this is the first time the name 'Palestinian state' has been mentioned in the main body of the resolution, not in an annex. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that "Hamas will be disarmed, that's what I said and that's what US President Donald Trump said." Netanyahu added at the start of the weekly government meeting: "Regarding the Palestinian state – our opposition to a Palestinian state in any area west of the Jordan River is firm and has not changed at all." He continued: "Our opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state on any part of the land has not changed. Gaza will be disarmed, and Hamas will be disarmed, the easy way or the hard way."
