Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on February 4, 2025. Consolidated News Photos – Shawn Thew – Pool via CNP
The 47th President of the United States and the Israeli Prime Minister met at the White House in Washington DC (United States). The two leaders discussed the conflict between Hamas and the Jewish state in the Palestinian enclave.
Donald Trump made a dramatic announcement Tuesday, saying he wants to take “control” of the war-torn Gaza Strip, a proposal that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said could “change history”.
The US president also reiterated that Gaza residents could move to Jordan or Egypt, despite opposition from those countries and the Palestinians themselves.
“The United States is going to take control of the Gaza Strip and we're going to do a great job with it”, the US president said at a news conference alongside Mr Netanyahu, referring to the Palestinian territory as a “demolition site”.
“We will take possession of it and be responsible for dismantling all the dangerous bombs that have not exploded and all the weapons”, he added, stressing that the United States would “level the area and get rid of the destroyed buildings”, in order to develop the Palestinian territory economically.
He did not elaborate on how he intended to do this, speaking of a project “in the long run”, but he said he had spoken to other countries in the region who “loved” the idea.
“This is not a decision taken lightly,” he said, repeating his vow to make Gaza the “Côte d'Azur of the Middle East.”
Trump Israel's “best friend”
Clearly happy to display their good understanding, even if the two leaders may have had disagreements, Mr. Netanyahu hailed Donald Trump as “the best friend Israel has ever had in the White House.”
He affirmed that an agreement to normalize relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel would “happen”. Which Riyadh immediately denied.
“Saudi Arabia will relentlessly pursue its efforts for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital and will not establish diplomatic relations with Israel without this”, the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared.
The American president recently sparked a wave of international indignation by proposing to do “simply cleaning up” in the Gaza Strip and transferring its inhabitants to “safer” places like Egypt or Jordan, which are hostile to the idea.
But he is increasing the pressure and assures that he will win his case.
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000M. Trump is due to meet Jordanian King Abdullah II later this week and has already spoken on the phone with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
A Hamas leader, Sami Abu Zuhri, has slammed Donald Trump’s statements on Palestinian displacement, calling them a “recipe for chaos” in the Middle East.
Palestinian Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour has called on world leaders to “respect the wishes of the Palestinian people” to live in Gaza.
The White House meeting comes as delicate negotiations resume over the continuation of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the first phase of which went into effect on January 19.
Hamas announced on Tuesday that “contacts and negotiations for the second phase”ceasefire had “begun.”
Israel had earlier said it would send “at the end of the week” a delegation to Qatar, one of the three mediating countries along with the United States and Egypt, to discuss the continuation of the truce.
“We will not leave it”
In the Gaza Strip, many Palestinians displaced by the war have taken advantage of the truce to return to their land, determined to rebuild. More than half a million of them have already returned to the north of the territory, which has been particularly destroyed by the fighting.
“Trump and Netanyahu must understand the reality of the Palestinian people. They are a people deeply rooted in their land, we will not leave it”, said Hatem Azzam, a resident of Rafah, in southern Gaza.
Mr Netanyahu is the first foreign leader to be invited to the White House since Donald Trump returned to power on January 20, a symbol of the unbreakable alliance between Israel and the United States.
Thousands of dead
The first phase of the truce has so far led to the release of 18 hostages held in Gaza and about 600 Palestinians held by Israel, as well as an influx of humanitarian aid into the besieged territory. The second phase should allow for the release of the last hostages and the definitive end of the war, triggered by the Hamas attack on Israeli soil on October 7, 2023.
Once the hostages are released during the first phase, the Palestinian Islamist movement will still hold around fifty hostages, dead or alive.
In total, 251 people were kidnapped during the Hamas attack, which resulted in the death of 1,210 people on the Israeli side, the majority of them civilians, according to an AFP count based on official data Israelis.
The Israeli retaliatory offensive in the Gaza Strip has left at least 47,487 dead, mostly civilians, according to data from the Hamas Health Ministry, deemed reliable by the UN.