(MENAFN) Ahead of a UN Security Council vote on advancing the next phase of a US-brokered Gaza peace plan, Israel’s hardline security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, declared that “the Palestinian people do not exist.”

The Security Council is set to consider a US-drafted resolution on Monday, supported by several Arab and Muslim nations, which is described as providing “a pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood,” according to reports.

In a lengthy post on X on Saturday, Ben-Gvir, who also leads the ultranationalist Otzma Yehudit party, wrote that “there is no such thing as ‘Palestinian people,’” claiming the nation was “an invention without any historical, archaeological, or factual basis.” He added: “The collection of immigrants from Arab countries to the Land of Israel does not constitute a nation, and they certainly do not deserve a reward for the terrorism, murder, and atrocities they have spread everywhere, especially in Gaza.” He described the only “real” solution as “encouraging voluntary emigration.”

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich echoed Ben-Gvir’s stance, urging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “make it clear to the entire world” that a Palestinian state “will never be established.”

Currently, 157 countries recognize the State of Palestine, including four of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.

Although Netanyahu stated in September that “there will be no Palestinian state to the west of the Jordan River,” he has previously distanced himself from Ben-Gvir and Smotrich, both of whom were reportedly excluded from his war cabinet.

Meanwhile, Russia has emphasized that future resolutions on Gaza should reaffirm the two-state solution and support the establishment of a viable Palestinian state.

MENAFN16112025000045017640ID1110350032