TEL AVIV, February 17. /TASS/. Any settlement of the Middle East conflict will be possible only through a direct dialogue between the parties concerned, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a news conference.

"Any agreement [on conflict settlement] with the Palestinians will be possible only through direct negotiations between the parties without preconditions," he stated.

"Israel under my leadership will continue to strongly oppose the unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state," Netanyahu stated. "After the terrible massacre of October 7, there can be no greater reward for terrorism than this (unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state - TASS), and it will prevent any future peace settlement. We will not succumb to any pressure. We will not give up because we are a nation of heroes."

The last direct talks between the parties to the Middle East conflict were broken off in April 2014 after nine months of unsuccessful attempts to narrow differences. The previous round of the peace process ended inconclusively in 2010.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023, when militants from the radical Palestinian group Hamas staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip, killing residents of Israeli border settlements and taking hostages, including women, children and the elderly. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. Israel has announced a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and has been delivering air strikes on Gaza as well as some parts of Lebanon and Syria. A ground operation in the enclave began. Clashes are in progress on the West Bank of River Jordan.