Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday he hopes to reach peace deals with more Arab countries once the war against Iranian proxies Hamas and Hezbollah is complete.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu © PMO
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday he hopes to reach peace deals with more Arab countries once the war against Iranian proxies Hamas and Hezbollah is complete.
"The day after Hamas no longer controls Gaza and Hezbollah no longer sits on our northern border, we are working these days on plans to stabilize those two fronts. But the day after includes something else of utmost importance," Netanyahu said in a speech to parliament.
"I aspire to continue the process I led a few years ago of the signing of the historic Abraham Accords, and achieve peace with more Arab countries," he said.
Israel, under the U.S.-brokered 2020 accords, normalized relations with four Arab countries - the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.
Since then, Israel, with U.S. support, has sought to also include other nations, particularly Saudi Arabia. Riyadh says it will not recognise Israel without the creation of a Palestinian state.
"These countries, and other countries, see clearly the blows we are landing on those who attack us, the Iranian axis of evil," he said. "They aspire, like us, for a stable, secure and prosperous Middle East."
Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch
The death toll from Israeli airstrikes targeting pro-Iranian groups in the central Syrian city of Palmyra on Wednesday has risen to 68, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on Thursday.
Hamas' acting Gaza chief Khalil al-Hayya said in remarks broadcast on Wednesday that there would be no hostages-for-prisoners swap deal with Israel unless the war in the Palestinian enclave ended.
Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said in a televised speech aired on Wednesday that his group had reviewed and given feedback on a U.S.-drafted ceasefire proposal to end fighting with Israel, and that a halt to hostilities was now in Israel's hands.
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