Daijiworld Media Network – Jerusalem
Jerusalem, Nov 18: Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has sparked a major political storm by calling for the arrest of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas if the United Nations moves ahead with recognising Palestinian statehood.
In a post on X, Ben Gvir accused senior Palestinian Authority (PA) officials of being “terrorists” and urged Israeli authorities to issue orders for their targeted killings. “Orders must be given for targeted killings of senior Palestinian Authority officials — who are terrorists in every respect — as well as an order for the arrest of Abu Mazen,” he wrote, using Mahmoud Abbas’ honorific name.
Ben Gvir further claimed that a special solitary confinement cell at the Ketziot Prison had already been prepared for Abbas.
His remarks come ahead of a crucial UN Security Council vote scheduled for Monday on a US-backed resolution supporting the Gaza peace plan. The draft makes reference to a “credible pathway” to Palestinian statehood — a clause Israel’s government is reportedly scrambling to remove. According to Israeli broadcaster Kan News, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration is making last-minute diplomatic efforts to eliminate all references to statehood from the resolution.
The current draft states that “conditions may be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood” after reforms within the PA and Gaza’s reconstruction.
Meanwhile, the National Commission for Palestinian Popular Action (NCPPA), a coalition of global Palestinian organisations, issued a strongly worded statement rejecting reported US proposals to place Gaza under an externally imposed transitional administration. The body said such a plan amounts to “a new colonialism”, warning that any governance structure created “outside the will of the Palestinian people” undermines their fundamental right to self-determination.
The NCPPA stressed that decisions regarding Gaza’s future must be shaped by Palestinians themselves, ensuring territorial unity, the legitimacy of resistance to Israeli occupation, and internationally recognised rights to freedom and self-determination.