Britain’s Defense Secretary, Grant Shapps, on Sunday said comments from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejecting the prospect of a Palestinian state were "disappointing" and reiterated the UK's commitment toward a two-state solution.
Speaking in an interview with Sky News, Shapps said it was "disappointing to hear that from the Israeli Prime Minister."
"There isn't another option. The whole world has agreed that a two-state solution is the best way forward. The British government absolutely backs that as a solution," Shapps claimed.
He added that a Palestinian state "needs to be sovereign on the Palestinian side" and to also "provide security guarantees on the Israeli side."
He also argued that there "isn't another obvious way out" out of the conflict in Gaza.
Shapps’ comments follow a report in CNN which said that Netanyahu told US President Joe Biden in a Friday phone conversation that he is not ruling out the creation of a Palestinian state.
Netanyahu also told the US President that his statements at a press conference held earlier this week "were not meant to foreclose that outcome in any form," a person familiar with the conversation told CNN.
At the end of the conversation, Biden said, "there are a number of types of two-state solutions."
Netanyahu's office responded to the report in a rare statement made on Shabbat which said, "In his conversation with President Biden, Prime Minister Netanyahu reiterated his policy that after Hamas is destroyed Israel must retain security control over Gaza to ensure that Gaza will no longer pose a threat to Israel, a requirement that contradicts the demand for Palestinian sovereignty."
Shapps has been supportive of Israel during the war against Hamas, saying recently that asking Israel to reach a ceasefire with Hamas is "untenable", adding Israel has "a right" to "go after" Hamas after its terrorists killed more than 1,400 on October 7 and abducted over 220 others.
A few weeks later, he backed Israel in its ongoing offensive in the Gaza Strip and expressed opposition to a ceasefire.