Israel, US split on 2-state solution

Israel bombarded southern Gaza yesterday after it publicly sparred with its main ally the United States over the creation of a Palestinian state, a step which Washington sees as the only pathway to a lasting peace.

Witnesses reported gunfire and air strikes early yesterday in Khan Yunis, the main city in the south of the Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian Red Crescent reported "intense" artillery fire near the Al-Amal hospital, while Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry said 142 people were killed and dozens injured in the last 24 hours.

Near-total telecommunications blackout in the Gaza Strip entered its seventh day yesterday, making it difficult for information to get out of the enclave amid constant Israeli attacks.

• Israeli strikes kill 142 more in Gaza
• Gaza internet blackout passes one-week mark: monitor

The Israeli military said its Givati Brigade was fighting as far south as its troops had reached so far in the campaign.

Since October 7, Israel's offensive on Gaza killed at least 24,762 Palestinians, around 70 percent of them women, children and adolescents, according to latest figures from the Gaza health ministry.

"We will not be satisfied with anything less than total victory," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a news conference on Thursday evening, warning that "victory will take many months".

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken used the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to renew his call for a "pathway to a Palestinian state".

But Netanyahu again flatly rejected the suggestion on Thursday. "Israel must have security control over the entire territory west of the Jordan River," he said. "This is a necessary condition, which contradicts the idea of (Palestinian) sovereignty."

Netanyahu maintained that "a prime minister in Israel should be able to say no, even to our best friends".

Washington believes that the creation and recognition of a viable Palestinian state is necessary to achieve security for Israel.

"We obviously see things differently," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said when asked about Netanyahu's comments.

Responding to Netanyahu's remarks, the official spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas, said that without an independent Palestinian state "there will be no security and stability in the region".

The Israeli offensive in Gaza has displaced roughly 85 percent of Gaza's 2.4 million people. Many are crowded into shelters where they struggle to get food, water, fuel and medical care. UN agencies say improved aid access is needed urgently as famine and disease loom.

According to Unicef, nearly 20,000 babies have been born into the current offensive in Gaza, while 135,000 children in the Gaza Strip under the age of two are at "severe risk" of malnutrition.

Noting that the number equals one baby born about every 10 minutes since October 7, Tess Ingram, a Unicef spokesperson, told a press briefing in Geneva: "The situation of pregnant women and newborns in the Gaza Strip is beyond belief, and it demands intensified and immediate actions".