The Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Initiative, Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, considered the continuation of the Israeli occupation in its escalation against the Palestinians on various fronts, which came after US President Joe Biden's meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, carries a clear message on Israel's determination to oppress and resist the Palestinians, and reflects the absolute American bias towards the occupation.

He stressed that the American role has become limited to serving Israel's interests, and that any talk about pressure exerted by Biden on Netanyahu is an open misinformation attempt, and that his government's policy is an extension of the policy of the government of his predecessor, Donald Trump, which aims to expand the circle of Arab normalization with the occupation at the expense of the Palestinian cause.

Barghouti's speech came during the episode devoted by the "Beyond the News" program on (2023/9/24) to the continuation of the Israeli occupation escalation on more than one axis, which varied in the last hours between raids, assassinations, arrests and invasion of Palestinian holy sites.

The occupation forces killed at dawn on Sunday Palestinians during their storming of two camps in the West Bank, and injured Palestinians by shelling in the eastern Gaza Strip, and strengthened their presence on the borders of the Strip, and this coincided with the storming of hundreds of Jewish militants Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the Palestinian presidency's warning of the continued escalation, which was considered by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) a translation of Netanyahu's speech at the United Nations.

The episode "Beyond the News" asked about the messages that the occupation wants to send by continuing its escalation in the West Bank, Jerusalem and Gaza after Biden's meeting with Netanyahu, and the implications of linking the Palestinian Authority and the resistance factions to Netanyahu's messages through his recent speech before the United Nations General Assembly.

Bloody war

In Barghouti's view, the recent escalation of the occupation is a continuation of his bloody war on the entire Palestinian people, where he did not leave a site where he committed a crime, and with his message of insistence on suppressing the resistance, he confirms his quest to Judaize all Palestinian lands.

In this context, the Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Initiative referred to the map shown by Netanyahu during his speech to the United Nations, which showed Israel includes all areas of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the Golan, in full view of everyone without condemnation or comment.

Barghouti considered that any talk about an American role that could put pressure on Israel is a misleading attempt that ignores the facts as clear as the sun, and that talking about a new normalization agreement with Saudi Arabia preceded by Israeli concessions in favor of the Palestinians is tantamount to selling a new illusion like the illusion of the Oslo agreement, which only provided more martyrs and lost land.

He stressed that the Palestinian people have learned from their experience with the illusions of previous agreements, and will not be fooled by any new attempts, stressing their continuation in the resistance project, which is taking root more and more, and considered any Arab normalization agreements with the occupation that support the liquidation of the Palestinian cause, and give more time to annexation and settlement projects.

Close deal

For his part, Richard Goodstein, former US President Bill Clinton's envoy to the Middle East peace negotiations, believes that the most prominent news in recent times has emerged from signs of an imminent agreement between the United States, Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Palestinian Authority, which he claims will be based on Israel making significant concessions in favor of legitimizing the Palestinian state.

Speaking beyond the news, he did not see what the Israeli occupation forces have done in the West Bank recently as an escalation, but considered it a legitimate right to target bomb-making facilities and try to stop them, which the United States would have done if it had found this on its borders, he said.

He considered that the agreement to normalize relations that is expected to take place between Saudi Arabia and Israel will carry a radical and tangible change in the lives of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, as it was a prerequisite for the Saudi side, reiterating that Netanyahu cannot prevent Israel from acting against any threat to it.

Regarding the Palestinian warnings of the consequences of the Israeli escalation and the possibility of its impact on the region, Goodstein added that Washington certainly does not want to launch rockets from Hezbollah and Hamas, and the need to respond will require, considering the possible American role in this context is to convey a message to both sides that any escalation will not be acceptable.