The president of the United States recently caused controversy by proposing ‘cleaning’ the gaza range and transferring its inhabitants to ‘safer’ locations, such as Egypt and Jordan
The president of the United States, received on Tuesday (4) in the White House the Prime Minister of Israel, and said that the Palestinians would “love” to leave the Gaza Strip and go live elsewhere if they were given to them option. The Republican leader recently caused controversy by proposing to “clean” to transfer his inhabitants to “safer” places such as Egypt and Jordan, who opposed the proposal. “When the president speaks of cleaning, he means making it habitable,” Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff told her today.
Netanyahu is the first foreign ruler invited to the White House since Trump’s return to power on January 20, a symbol of the close relationship between Israeli leader and the Republican tycoon. Prior to the meeting, Netanyahu’s office announced that he will send “at the end of the week” a delegation to Qatar to discuss the next stages of the ceasefire in force in Gaza since January 19.
Hamas announced, on Tuesday, the beginning of negotiations with Israel about the second phase of the truce in Gaza, a dialogue celebrated thanks to the mediators. “Contacts and negotiations for the second phase began,” Hamas spokesman Abdel Latif al Qanu said in a statement. The Palestinian Islamist movement, which rules Gaza, did not specify who represents it in this dialogue.
On Monday, two sources of Hamas stated that the terrorist movement was “ready” to resume the talks and awaiting the convening of the mediators (Qatar, Egypt and the United States). The truce agreement has allowed the interruption of more than 15 months of a devastating war between Israel and the Hamas Islamist movement and the liberation of various Israeli hostages in exchange for the liberation of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
The pact includes three phases. The first, of six weeks, should also serve to negotiate the details of the second, which should include the liberation of the other hostages still alive and the definitive end of the war. The conflict began on October 7, 2023 with Hamas’s surprise attack against southern Israel, which caused the deaths of 1,210 people, according to an AFP count based on official data.
Israel responded with an air and terrestrial campaign against Gaza that devastated the territory and left at least 47,487 dead, according to data from the Ministry of Health of the Hamas Government, which the UN considers reliable.
In his attack, Islamist militiamen also kidnapped 251 people. Of these, 76 remain retained in Gaza, but the Israeli army considers that 34 died in captivity. When the first phase of the truce is over, Hamas will still have almost 50 hostages, between alive and dead.
Despite the truce, the tension continues. On Tuesday, two Israeli soldiers died after a man opened fire on a military post in the occupied West Bank, where the army performed a wide operation several days ago. The aggressor was killed by security forces.
‘Redesign’ the map
Before traveling, Netanyahu stated that, “working closely” with Trump, it would be possible to “redesign the Middle East Map. Trump also questioned the continuity of the Gaza True Agreement, although, at the time of the announcement, a few days before his inauguration, he claimed a key role in the realization of ceasefire.
The refusal of Jordan and Egypt to receive the 2.4 million inhabitants of Gaza does not seem to be discouraged Trump, which addresses each diplomatic challenge as negotiating an economic contract. “We do a lot for them and they will do it,” he insisted last Thursday.
The Republican President will receive King Abdullah II of Jordan on February 11 and spoke on Saturday (1st) with his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel Fatah al Sisi. Jordan already houses nearly 2.3 million Palestinian refugees and Egypt has a crucial Gaza border for the entry of humanitarian aid that the territory needs so much.
In a significant change in relation to his predecessor, Joe Biden, Trump unlocking the delivery to Israel of 900 -pound bombs that had been suspended by the Democrat. It also annulled the financial sanctions that the former president had determined against Israeli settlers accused of violence against Palestinians in West Bank.
The new president can also address with the guest the theme of the normalization of relationships between Israel and Saudi Arabia, regional power in the Middle East, for which he has worked during his first term.
*With information from AFP
Posted by Carolina Ferreira
