Protesters chant and call for the ceasefire deal to continue while holding a banner that reads 'relocation for the hostages' during an anti-government demonstration outside the Kirya on Feb. 8, in Tel Aviv, Israel.Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images
Hamas said Monday it will delay the further release of hostages in the Gaza Strip after accusing Israel of violating a fragile ceasefire that now faces its most serious crisis since it began three weeks ago.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under heavy pressure to secure the release of remaining hostages after three Israelis freed Saturday came home emaciated after 16 months in captivity.
After Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack triggered Israel’s bombardment and invasion of the Gaza Strip, Israel intensified its crackdown on the occupied West Bank, ramping up raids against militants in the north of the territory and subjecting Palestinians in the area to the strictest scrutiny.
The Associated Press
Less than a week after he floated his plan for the U.S. to take control of Gaza and turn it into “the Riviera of the Middle East,” U.S. President Donald Trump, in an interview with Fox News’s Bret Baier airing Monday, said: “No, they wouldn’t,” when asked if Palestinians in Gaza would have a right to return to the territory. It comes as he has ramped up pressure on Arab states, especially U.S. allies Jordan and Egypt, to take in Palestinians from Gaza, who claim the territory as part of a future homeland.
“We’ll build safe communities, a little bit away from where they are, where all of this danger is,” Mr. Trump said. “In the meantime, I would own this. Think of it as a real estate development for the future. It would be a beautiful piece of land. No big money spent.”
Arab nations have sharply criticized the Trump proposal, and Mr. Trump is set to host Jordan’s King Abdullah II at the White House on Tuesday. In addition to concerns about jeopardizing the long-held goals of a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict, Egypt and Jordan have privately raised security concerns about welcoming large numbers of additional refugees into their countries even temporarily.
When asked how he’d convince Abdullah to take in Palestinians, Mr. Trump told reporters, “I do think he’ll take, and I think other countries will take also. They have good hearts.”
But he also threatened to potentially withhold billions of dollars of U.S. assistance to Jordan and Egypt if they don’t go along with his plan.
“Yeah, maybe, sure why not,” Mr. Trump said. “If they don’t, I would conceivably withhold aid, yes.”
Mr. Trump’s comments risked jeopardizing the already tenuous ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza after 15 months of war, with the existing framework for negotiations calling for the massive humanitarian and reconstruction assistance for civilians in Gaza.
Three hostages released from Gaza have been handed over to Israeli forces and crossed into Israel in the first test of a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. The Israeli military shared footage it said showed the released hostages crossing into Israeli territory.
The Associated Press
After Mr. Trump’s initial comments last week, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt and Secretary of State Marco Rubio respectfully insisted that Mr. Trump only wanted Palestinians relocated from Gaza “temporarily” and for an “interim” period to allow for debris removal, the disposal of unexploded ordnance and reconstruction.
Mr. Trump last week didn’t rule out deploying U.S. troops to help secure the territory but at the same time insisted no U.S. funds would go to pay for the reconstruction of Gaza, raising fundamental questions about the nature of his plan.
Palestinians in Gaza renewed their rejection of U.S. President Donald Trump's suggestion that the U.S. would take control of the Gaza Strip.
The Associated Press
Egypt on Monday reiterated its rejection to the transfer of Palestinians from their territories in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, warning that such proposals threaten “the foundations of people” in the Middle East.
In a statement, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem its capital is the base for “comprehensive and just peace” in the region.
The statement said Egypt rejects any violations to the Palestinians’ “right of self-determination … and independence,” and “upholds the right of return for Palestinian refugees who were forced to leave their homeland,” in a reference to hundreds of thousands who were forced to flee their homes in what is now Israel during the 1948 war.
A senior Hamas official blasted Mr. Trump’s latest remarks about the U.S. ownership of Gaza as “absurd.”
Izzat al-Rishq, a member of Hamas’s politico bureau, said these comments “reflect a deep ignorance of Palestine and the region.”
In comments released by Hamas early Monday, he said Mr. Trump’s approach toward the Palestinian cause will fail.
“Dealing with the Palestinian cause with the mentality of a real estate dealer is a recipe for failure,” he said. “Our Palestinian people will thwart all transfer and deportation plans.”