‘We know it has been an Israeli programme to push the Palestinians out of Gaza’

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh condemned Israel yesterday, saying the government has “achieved nothing” other than death and destruction in Gaza since the war began in October last year.

“We know it has been an Israeli programme to push the Palestinians out of Gaza,” he said at the Munich Security Conference. “The Israelis can’t speak for anything but the reality speaks for itself.

“[Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu has achieved nothing until now. He killed [more than] 28,000 people. He injured 70,000 people and he destroyed 281,000 housing units. This is the only thing that Israel has achieved in Gaza until this single minute.”

Prospects of a ceasefire in Gaza dimmed on Saturday as the US vowed to veto a draft UN resolution calling for an immediate end to fighting in the enclave, where more than 28,900 people have been killed.

Israel has repeatedly rejected pleas for a ceasefire, saying it will not stop attacks on Gaza until it has achieved a “complete victory” over Hamas.

Washington has said a proposal put forward by Algeria would not achieve what negotiators have worked for weeks to secure, including a hostage exchange, an extended pause in fighting and increased humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the UN, said Washington was working on a hostage deal between Israel and Hamas, which would bring an “immediate and sustained period of calm to Gaza for at least six weeks”.

The Algerian proposal, she said, “would not achieve these outcomes, and indeed, may run counter to them. We have communicated this concern repeatedly to our colleagues on the council. For that reason, the United States does not support action on this draft resolution”.

Mr Shtayyeh called for an “immediate ceasefire” and said the international community must put pressure on Israel to halt its planned offensive on the southern city of Rafah, where more than a million displaced Palestinians have sought refuge. “Everyone should be holding Israel responsible for the atrocities,” he added.

He later confirmed Moscow has invited Palestinian factions for talks on February 26. “We will see if Hamas is ready to come to the ground with us,” he said. “We are ready to engage. If Hamas is not, then that’s a different story. We need Palestinian unity.”

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi was also vocal in his criticism of Israel at the Munich summit.

Amman “should not be responsible for cleaning Israel’s mess”, he said yesterday. “The root cause of all of this is occupation, that is consolidated day in and day out. Israel is pushing people into the abyss,” he said.

“We are looking at this as if the only problem is Hamas but the only problem is the occupation.”

Mr Safadi said Jordan has repeatedly warned Israel against displacing Palestinians during its incursion into Rafah, which borders Egypt.

“We will not allow the displacement of Palestinians. We have warned them,” he said.

Mr Shtayyeh said the international community must put pressure on Israel to halt its planned offensive on Rafah