The Oct. 7, 2023, attacks marked the end of the two-state solution, Israel’s Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana told visiting European Parliament President Roberta Metsola in Jerusalem on Thursday.
“Today, I welcomed @EP_President Roberta Metsola back to the Knesset to discuss the hostages, Iran & UNRWA’s role in fueling terror,” Ohana tweeted. “I told her Hamas also killed the so-called ‘two-state solution’ on October 7th—and thanked her for her solidarity ever since.”
Ohana, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party and ruling coalition, blamed Gaza’s education system for inciting violence and suggested that only the approach proposed by US President Donald Trump offers a fresh perspective.
The American president’s plan includes the resettlement of Gazans to other countries while the war-torn coastal enclave is rebuilt, deradicalized and turned into a developed hub at peace with Israel.
Metsola also met at the Knesset on Thursday with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar.
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She described the meetings as “open discussions in Jerusalem,” adding that the immediate priority for the European Parliament “is to ensure that all the hostages are released, that the ceasefire holds and humanitarian aid increases.”
Hamas currently holds 76 hostages in Gaza, including 73 kidnapped during the Oct. 7 attacks in which over 250 were taken hostage and some 1,200 people were killed in southern Israel.
Three captives are scheduled to be released on Saturday as part of the first stage of a ceasefire that took effect on Jan. 19, with the second stage being negotiated.
Israel has threatened to resume combat against the terrorist group if the hostages are not released by noon on Saturday.
Trump also warned Hamas after the organization said earlier in the week that Saturday’s release would be postponed, although reports indicated on Thursday that the Islamist group will move forward with freeing three men.
