President Biden pledged to help organize efforts to rebuild Gaza and said that the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel is the «only solution» to the decades-long conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
He also said that he had asked the Israelis to stop «the intercommunal fighting» in the restive city of Jerusalem.
Biden stressed that «there is no shift in my commitment and commitment to the security of Israel,» adding that until the region «unequivocally» recognizes the existence of Israel, «there will be no peace.»
The idea of a two-state solution, with a sovereign Palestinian state alongside Israel and Jerusalem as their shared capital, has been the cornerstone of decades of international diplomacy aimed at ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
US policy under Donald Trump has been criticized for being blatantly pro-Israel and ignoring the Palestinians.
A Middle East peace plan drawn up by Trump’s advisor and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, was promoted as stipulating a two-state solution.
However, this plan envisaged a Palestinian state with limited sovereignty and whose security Israel would maintain.
Palestinian leaders rejected the plan categorically.
Speaking after stopping eleven days of bloody fighting between Israel and Hamas militants yesterday, President Biden insisted on a comprehensive two-state solution.
He said, «There is no shift in my commitment to the security of Israel. Period, no shift, no at all.»
«But I’m telling you what the switch is in.
«The transformation is that we still need the two-state solution. It is the only answer, the only answer.»