Netanyahu demands Hamas exile from Gaza: Report
An Israeli media report says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made new demands in negotiations on the second phase of the ongoing ceasefire deal signed with Hamas.
According to Israel’s Channel 13, Netanyahu is demanding Hamas leadership to be exiled abroad, Gaza to be demilitarised and Israel to maintain security control over the enclave.
These were not included in the deal signed in mid-January. As per that accord, Hamas would have released all the remaining captives and Israeli troops were to withdraw from the Strip.
US Mideast envoy says Trump’s Gaza plan is about better prospects, not eviction
“When the President talks about this, it means he wants to shake up everyone’s thinking and think about what is compelling and what is the best solution for the Palestinian people,” Steven Witkoff told a conference in Miami, referring to Donald Trump’s much-criticised “plan” for the US to own the Gaza Strip and resettle its residents away from it, in what human rights groups have labelled ethnic cleansing.
The plan drew global condemnation with Arab nations rushing to discuss a counter-plan for the reconstruction of the enclave that would not include Palestinians’ uprooting. But backers of Trump’s proposal are now spinning it as a way to guarantee a better life for them rather than an eviction from their homes.
“For instance, do they want to live in a home there, or would they rather have an opportunity to resettle in some sort of better place, to have jobs, upside and financial prospects,” Witkoff said, appearing to ignore the repeated message from Palestinians in Gaza that they do not want to abandon their land.
Witkoff was speaking to Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner at the FII Institute conference in Miami, Florida, where he also spoke about phase two of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
“The issue with phase two is that there’s supposed to be an end to the war … and I think the Israelis have a red line, which is you can’t have Hamas in the government. And so it’s hard to sort of square that circle,” Witkoff said. “But we’re making a lot of progress in the conversations, and hopefully, it will lead to some good things, good results.”
Trump ‘very clear’ about Gaza ethnic cleansing plan
We’ve been seeing this since 2016: President Trump says a whole bunch of things, and then a lot of his deputies or spokespersons or secretaries walk it back or walk it down, climbing down whatever tree Trump climbed by his provocative statements, because that’s what he tends to do.
But none of it is coincidental. None of it is by mistake. All of this is, I don’t want to say calculated, but instinctive, and repetitive, and continuous, and consistent on the part of the president, to be saying things that are outrageous, and damning, and then to start walking them down. It is what they call his “opening bid”.
And his opening bid has been for the people of Gaza to leave. When he was asked, will they come back? He said, “No, no need for them to come back because they will leave happily wherever they are going.”
So Trump has been very clear about the idea of ethnic cleansing. Now, his lieutenant wants to walk back his provocation.
Abbas reiterates call for ‘territorial unity of Palestine’
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas spoke on Thursday at the opening of the 12th session of the Fatah Revolutionary Council, in Ramallah.
“We will continue working to establish a ceasefire, guarantee the flow of humanitarian aid, and ensure that the State of Palestine assumes responsibility in Gaza, all while preserving the territorial unity of Palestine,” he said.
Abbas noted that the vast majority of the international community has also rejected Trump’s proposal to forcibly displace Palestinians to Egypt and Jordan.
“We will continue our efforts in international forums, working with both our Arab and international allies, to push for the recognition of Palestine as a full member state of the United Nations,” Abbas said.
The Palestinian president is an increasingly unpopular figure among his own people, in part for cooperating with Israeli forces on security issues, and has been accused of being ineffective in countering Israel.
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