Netanyahu says Israel will block Palestinian state

Netanyahu said he had been blocking Palestinian statehood "for decades."

ByDavid Brennan and Nadine El-Bawab
Last Updated: November 17, 2025, 2:00 AM EST

There are now three remaining deceased hostages in Gaza, following Thursday's return of the body of Meni Goddard. Israeli authorities have been releasing the bodies of Palestinians in exchange for the return of hostage remains.

The ceasefire is broadly holding in Gaza. Elsewhere, Israel is continuing strikes on what it says are Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon. The Israel Defense Forces is also continuing raids in parts of the occupied West Bank.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, last week that the war "has not ended," warning that "those who seek to do us harm are re-arming."

Netanyahu and other officials, meanwhile, have reiterated their intention to block future Palestinian statehood ahead of a planned United Nations Security Council vote on the U.S. plan for post-war Gaza.

Key Headlines

Here's how the news is developing.
Nov 11, 2025, 11:26 AM EST

Hezbollah will not disarm despite pressure from Israeli strikes, group leader says

Hezbollah will not disarm, despite pressure from Israel, including missile strikes on southern Lebanon, Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said in an address Tuesday.

Strikes from the Israel Defense Forces on southern Lebanon over the past couple of weeks have been increasing in intensity.

PHOTO: Plumes of smoke billow following an Israeli strike in the outskirts of the southern Lebanese village of Qatrani near Jezzine on Nov. 10, 2025.
Plumes of smoke billow following an Israeli strike in the outskirts of the southern Lebanese village of Qatrani near Jezzine on Nov. 10, 2025. Despite a ceasefire in place since November 2024, Israel has kept up attacks on Lebanon, where it continues to hold five positions.
Rabih Daher/AFP via Getty Images

Hezbollah is defending itself and the continuation of the aggression cannot last, Qassem said.

"Pressure will not change our stance, and we will defend our land, our people, and our dignity, and we will not leave the future of our generations to the arrogant and the agents," Qassem said.

-ABC News' Ghazi Hourani

Nov 11, 2025, 2:48 AM EST

UN says 'many obstacles' remain to Gaza aid efforts

Tom Fletcher, the United Nations' under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, said in a Monday statement that the UN and its partners "have fed more than a million people" in Gaza since the signing of a ceasefire there last month.

Young displaced Palestinians wait with their containers to receive a portion of food in the Nuseirat refugee camp, in the central of Gaza Strip on Nov. 10, 2025.
Eyad Baba/AFP via Getty Images

"Nutrition sites have been reopened and hospitals are treating more patients," Fletcher said. "Roads have been cleared. Vital immunizations are being resumed. Water lines repaired. Winter clothes and blankets are being distributed and mental health and psycho-social services delivered."

But Fletcher said that "many obstacles remain" that are preventing the adequate flow of aid into the devastated Palestinian territory.

"We're working to overcome red tape, enable essential humanitarian partners, open more crossings and routes and navigate continued insecurity," Fletcher said.

"With these constraints eased, we can do much more to save many more lives," he added.

-ABC News' Cindy Smith and Will Gretsky

Nov 10, 2025, 1:22 PM EST

Netanyahu says war 'has not ended'

The war "has not ended," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday in an address to the Knesset, Israel’s parliament.

"Those who seek to do us harm are re-arming," he said. "They did not give up their aim of destroying us."

Palestinians walk past the rubble of destroyed buildings, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, November 2, 2025.
Mahmoud Issa/Reuters

Netanyahu said Hamas "will be disarmed" and "Gaza will be demilitarized."

"It will either happen the easy way, or it will happen the hard way," he continued. "But it will happen."

-ABC News’ Jordana Miller

Nov 10, 2025, 11:36 AM EST

More Israeli strikes in Lebanon

Israeli forces are striking Lebanon again after multiple strikes last week.

The Israel Defense Forces said it has killed at least three "Hezbollah terrorists.”

Last week's strikes were condemned by the Lebanese government and army. The Israelis claim they are stopping Hezbollah from re-arming.

-ABC News' Will Gretsky

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