Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

RAMALLAH — A two-state solution to the Middle East conflict will be impossible with an Israeli government headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday.

“Netanyahu’s statements against a two-state solution and against a Palestinian state … are proof, if correct, that there is no seriousness in the Israeli government about a political solution that will lead to the establishment of two states,” he said a day after the Israeli leader snatched an upset election victory.

In a last-ditch appeal to Israel’s far right just hours before polls opened Tuesday, Netanyahu ruled out the establishment of a Palestinian state and pledged to build thousands of new homes for Jewish settlers in occupied east Jerusalem.

Abbas said the Palestinians would continue to “demand international legitimacy”, in reference to their attempts to achieve statehood through the United Nations and other international bodies.