Israel’s prime minister has said he is working to make US President Donald Trump’s plan to remove and resettle Gaza’s population “a reality”.
Benjamin Netanyahu said he was co-operating with the US on a “common strategy” for the Palestinian territory after a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Jerusalem on Sunday.
The talks come after US President Donald Trump proposed a US takeover Gaza and removal of the two million Palestinians there to neighbouring countries.
The UN has warned that any forced displacement of civilians from occupied territory is strictly prohibited under international law and “tantamount to ethnic cleansing”.
America’s top diplomat said President Trump’s plan may have “shocked and surprised” people, but it took “courage” to propose an alternative to “tired ideas” of the past.
Netanyahu said he and Rubio had discussed ways to implement Trump’s vision, adding that the US and Israel had a common position on Gaza.
The Israeli leader warned that the “gates of hell” would be opened if all Israeli hostages held by the armed group Hamas were not released.
“Hamas can not continue as a military or government force,” Rubio added. “And as long as it stands as a force that can govern or administer or a force that can threaten by use of violence, peace becomes impossible.”
The Israeli military launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage.
The fighting has caused devastation in Gaza, where more than 48,200 people have been killed during the 16-month war, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
Most of Gaza’s population has also been displaced multiple times, almost 70% of buildings are estimated to be damaged or destroyed, the healthcare, water, sanitation and hygiene systems have collapsed, and there are shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter.
Palestinian and Arab leaders have widely rejected Trump’s Gaza takeover plan, with the Palestinian Authority and Hamas emphasising that Palestinian land is “not for sale”.
Unlike previous US peace efforts in the region, the US top diplomat did not meet any Palestinian leaders to discuss the future of Gaza.
Speaking at a joint news conference on Sunday, Rubio and Netanyahu outlined areas of agreement, including a desire to eradicate Hamas’s governing capacity in the enclave, prevent Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon, and to monitor developments in post-Assad Syria.
Rubio went on to accuse Tehran of being “behind every act of violence, behind every destabilising activity, behind everything that threatens peace and stability” in the region.
Netanyahu also condemned what he called “lawfare” from the International Criminal Court (ICC), which he said “outrageously libelled” Israel.
He thanked the US administration for issuing sanctions against the ICC, which last year issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu and his former defence minister over alleged war crimes in Gaza – which Israel denies – as well as a top Hamas commander.
Rubio is visiting Israel on his first tour of the Middle East as the US secretary of state. He is also due to meet Russian officials in Saudi Arabia in coming days for talks on the war in Ukraine – a meeting that neither Ukraine nor other European countries have been invited to.
His visit comes after a shipment of American-made heavy bombs arrived in Israel overnight.
Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz said his country had received a delivery of MK-84 bombs from the US late on Saturday, after Trump overturned a block on exporting the munitions placed by his predecessor, Joe Biden.
Biden initially shipped thousands of MK-84s to Israel after Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack, but later declined to clear the bombs for export out of concern for their impact on Gaza. The powerful 2,000-pound bombs have a wide blast radius and can rip through concrete and metal, destroying entire buildings.
Katz said the shipment represented a “significant asset” for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and served as evidence of the “strong alliance between Israel and the United States”.
Meanwhile, Hamas said an Israeli air strike had killed three police officers near Rafah in southern Gaza on Sunday, which it called a “serious violation” of the ceasefire.
Israel said it had struck “several armed individuals” in southern Gaza.
The ceasefire came into force on 19 January and requires a complete pause in fighting for the first 42-day phase.
Fears had been high this week that the fragile ceasefire agreement could collapse after a dispute over a planned hostage release, which was nearly aborted but ultimately went ahead on Saturday.
Netanyahu’s office confirmed on Sunday that an Israeli negotiating team would travel to Cairo on Monday to discuss the second phase of the ceasefire. – BBC
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