Trump repeats pledge to take control of Gaza even as pressure mounts to renew ceasefire

Trump repeats pledge to take control of Gaza even as pressure mounts to renew ceasefire
Palestinian Talal Al-Assali and his family are seen in front of their destroyed home in Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip, on February 9, 2025. US President Donald Trump on Sunday insisted on his "scandal(ous)" idea of uprooting Palestinians from Gaza and resettling them elsewhere. (AFP)
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Updated 10 February 2025
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Trump repeats pledge to take control of Gaza even as pressure mounts to renew ceasefire

Trump repeats pledge to take control of Gaza even as pressure mounts to renew ceasefire
  • “I’m committed to buying and owning Gaza. As far as us rebuilding it, we may give it to other states in the Middle East to build sections of it,” Trump said
  • He said Arab nations would agree to take in Palestinians after speaking with him and insisted Palestinians would leave Gaza if they had a choice

MUGHRAQA, Gaza Strip: New details and growing shock over emaciated hostages renewed pressure Sunday on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to extend a fragile Gaza ceasefire beyond the first phase, even as US President Donald Trump repeated his pledge that the US would take control of the Palestinian enclave.
Talks on the second phase, meant to see more hostages released and a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, were due to start Feb. 3. But Israel and Hamas appear to have made little progress, even as Israeli forces withdrew Sunday from a Gaza corridor in the latest commitment to the truce.
Netanyahu sent a delegation to Qatar, a key mediator, but it included low-level officials, sparking speculation that it won’t lead to a breakthrough. Netanyahu, who returned after a US visit to meet with Trump, is expected to convene security Cabinet ministers on Tuesday.
Trump weighs in on Gaza again
Speaking on Sunday, Trump repeated his pledge to take control of the Gaza Strip.
“I’m committed to buying and owning Gaza. As far as us rebuilding it, we may give it to other states in the Middle East to build sections of it. Other people may do it through our auspices. But we’re committed to owning it, taking it, and making sure that Hamas doesn’t move back. There’s nothing to move back into. The place is a demolition site. The remainder will be demolished,” he told reporters onboard Air Force One as he traveled to the Super Bowl.
Trump said Arab nations would agree to take in Palestinians after speaking with him and insisted Palestinians would leave Gaza if they had a choice.
“They don’t want to return to Gaza. If we could give them a home in a safer area — the only reason they’re talking about returning to Gaza is they don’t have an alternative. When they have an alternative, they don’t want to return to Gaza.”
Trump also suggested he was losing patience with the deal after seeing the emaciated hostages released this week.
“I watched the hostages come back today and they looked like Holocaust survivors. They were in horrible condition. They were emaciated. It looked like many years ago, the Holocaust survivors, and I don’t know how much longer we can take that,” he said.
Israel has expressed openness to the idea of resettling Gaza’s population — ”a revolutionary, creative vision,” Netanyahu told his Cabinet on Sunday — while Hamas, the Palestinians and much of the world have rejected it.
Egypt said it will host an emergency Arab summit on Feb. 27 to discuss the “new and dangerous developments.”
Trump’s proposal has moral, legal and practical obstacles. It may have been proposed as a negotiation tactic to pressure Hamas or an opening gambit in discussions aimed at securing a normalization deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia condemned Netanyahu’s recent comment that Palestinians could create their state there, saying it aimed to divert attention from crimes committed by “the Israeli occupation against our Palestinian brothers in Gaza, including the ethnic cleansing they are being subjected to.”
Qatar called Netanyahu’s comment “provocative” and a blatant violation of international law.
Hostage families say time is running out
Families of remaining hostages said time is running out as some survivors described being barefoot and in chains.
“We cannot let the hostages remain there. There is no other way. I am appealing to the cabinet,” said Ella Ben Ami, daughter of a hostage released Saturday, adding she now understands the toll of captivity is much worse than imagined.
The father of a remaining hostage, Kobi Ohel, told Israel’s Channel 13 the newly released men said his son, Alon, and others “live off half a pita to a full pita a day. These are not human conditions.” Ohel’s mother, Idit, sobbed as she told Channel 12 her son has been chained for over a year.
Michael Levy said his brother, the newly released Or Levy, had been barefoot and hungry for 16 months. “The decision-makers knew exactly what his condition was and what everyone else’s condition was, and they did not do enough to bring him back with the urgency that was needed,” he said.
On Saturday, as Israelis reeled, former defense minister Yoav Gallant said on social media that the deterioration in hostages’ conditions was something “Israel has known about for some time.”
The ceasefire’s extension is not guaranteed
The ceasefire that began on Jan. 19 has held, raising hopes that the 16-month war that led to seismic shifts in the Middle East may be headed toward an end.
The latest step was Israel forces’ withdrawal from the 4-mile (6-kilometer) Netzarim corridor separating northern and southern Gaza, which was used as a military zone. No troops were seen in the vicinity Sunday. As the ceasefire began last month, Israel began allowing hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians to cross Netzarim and return to the north.
But the deal remains fragile. On Sunday, civil defense first responders in Gaza said Israeli fire killed three people east of Gaza City. Israel’s military noted “several hits” after firing warning shots and warned Palestinians against approaching its forces.
Cars piled with belongings headed north. Under the deal, Israel should allow cars to cross Netzarim uninspected. Troops remain along Gaza’s borders with Israel and Egypt.
Hamas spokesperson Abdel Latif Al-Qanoua said the troops’ withdrawal showed the militant group had “forced the enemy to submit to our demands” and thwarted “Netanyahu’s illusion of achieving total victory.”
Israel has said it won’t agree to a complete withdrawal from Gaza until Hamas’ military and political capabilities are eliminated. Hamas says it won’t hand over the last hostages until Israel removes all troops.
During the ceasefire’s 42-day first phase, Hamas is gradually releasing 33 Israeli hostages captured during its Oct. 7, 2023, attack that sparked the war in exchange for the release of nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and a flood of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Israel has said Hamas confirmed that eight of the 33 are dead.
Families of the hostages gathered in Tel Aviv to urge Netanyahu to extend the ceasefire, but he is also under pressure from far-right political allies to resume the war. Trump’s proposal for the US to take control of the Gaza Strip may also complicate the situation.
“They are dying there, so we need to finish this deal in a hurry,” said Ayala Metzger, daughter-in-law of hostage Yoram Metzger, who died in captivity.
The war in Gaza, sparked by Hamas’ attack that killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostage, has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, who do not differentiate between fighters and noncombatants in their count. Much of the territory has been obliterated.
Violence in the occupied West Bank
Violence has surged in the occupied West Bank during the war and intensified in recent days with an Israeli military operation against Palestinian militants in the territory’s north.
On Sunday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said Israeli gunfire killed two women, one of them, Sundus Shalabi, eight months pregnant. It said Rahaf Al-Ashqar, 21, was also killed. The shooting occurred in the Nur Shams urban refugee camp, a focal point of Israeli operations.
Israel’s military said its police had opened an investigation.
Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz on Sunday announced the expansion of the operation that started in Jenin several weeks ago. He said it was meant to prevent Iran — allied with Hamas — from establishing a foothold in the West Bank.
 


Egypt makes new proposal to restore Gaza ceasefire deal, sources say

Egypt makes new proposal to restore Gaza ceasefire deal, sources say
Updated 57 min 29 sec ago
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Egypt makes new proposal to restore Gaza ceasefire deal, sources say

Egypt makes new proposal to restore Gaza ceasefire deal, sources say
  • The Egyptian plan suggests Hamas release five Israeli hostages each week, with Israel implementing the second phase of the ceasefire after the first week

CAIRO: Egypt made a new proposal last week aimed at restoring the Gaza ceasefire deal, security sources told Reuters on Monday.
The proposal follows an escalation in violence after Israel resumed air and ground operations against Hamas last Tuesday, effectively ending a two-month period of relative calm.
The Egyptian plan suggests Hamas release five Israeli hostages each week, with Israel implementing the second phase of the ceasefire after the first week, the sources said.
Both the US and Hamas agreed to the proposal, the security sources said, but Israel had not yet responded.
The sources said Egypt’s proposal also includes a timeline for the release of all hostages in exchange for a timeline for Israel’s full withdrawal from Gaza, backed by US guarantees.
Hamas has accused Israel of breaking the terms of the January ceasefire agreement but has said it is still willing to negotiate a ceasefire and was studying proposals from US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff.


Lebanese defense minister to visit Syria: official

Lebanese defense minister to visit Syria: official
Updated 24 March 2025
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Lebanese defense minister to visit Syria: official

Lebanese defense minister to visit Syria: official
  • The aim of the visit was to “discuss ways to manage the situation at the border”

BEIRUT: Lebanese Defense Minister Michel Menassa will visit Syria on Wednesday to discuss recent tensions along the border between the two countries, a Lebanese official said.
“The defense minister will head a security delegation to Damascus to meet with his counterpart, Marhaf Abu Qasra,” the official told AFP on Monday on condition of anonymity.
The aim of the visit was to “discuss ways to manage the situation at the border, strengthen bilateral coordination and prevent cross-border aggression,” the source said.
Ten people were killed in clashes that broke out along the fronter in mid-March.
Damascus accused Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group once allied with deposed president Bashar Assad, of abducting and killing three Syrian soldiers, which the Iran-backed movement strongly denied.
Subsequently, seven Lebanese were killed in air strikes from Syria, according to Lebanese authorities.
A Lebanese security source told AFP that Syrian forces shelled the border area after three Syrian soldiers were killed by armed Lebanese smugglers.
Both countries later announced they had reached a ceasefire agreement.
Syria shares a 330-kilometer (205-mile) border with Lebanon, with no official demarcation.
In February, Syrian authorities announced the launch of a security campaign in the border province of Homs aimed at shutting down routes used for arms and goods smuggling.
Hezbollah, which fought alongside Assad’s forces during the Syrian war, has long exerted influence over large parts of the Lebanese-Syrian border.
The group was massively weakened in its war with Israel late last year.


Israeli strike kills Hamas official Ismail Barhoum in Gaza hospital

Israeli strike kills Hamas official Ismail Barhoum in Gaza hospital
Updated 24 March 2025
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Israeli strike kills Hamas official Ismail Barhoum in Gaza hospital

Israeli strike kills Hamas official Ismail Barhoum in Gaza hospital
  • Member of Hamas’s political bureau was getting treatment at Nasser Hospital
  • Barhoum is the fourth member of Hamas’s political bureau killed since last Tuesday

GAZA CITY: An Israeli air strike on Sunday killed a member of Hamas’s political bureau as he underwent treatment in hospital, a source in the Islamist movement said, after Israel confirmed it targeted “a key terrorist.”
“The Israeli army assassinated Hamas political bureau member Ismail Barhoum,” the Hamas source said, requesting anonymity to speak more freely.
“Warplanes bombed the operating room at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, where Barhoum was receiving treatment after sustaining critical injuries in an air strike targeting his home in Khan Yunis at dawn last Tuesday.”
AFP photos showed the building of about four-storys largely undamaged except for fire blazing in one section off a stairwell.
Barhoum is the fourth member of Hamas’s political bureau killed since last Tuesday when Israel resumed air strikes in the territory after an impasse over continuing a ceasefire.
Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz confirmed in a statement that Barhoum had been targeted in the strike.
The Israeli military said it hit the hospital with “precise munitions” following extensive intelligence-gathering.
It said the target was a key member of “the Hamas terrorist organization who was operating inside the Nasser Hospital compound.”
The Ministry of Health in Hamas-run Gaza said Israeli forces “have just targeted the surgery building inside the Nasser Medical Complex, which houses many patients and wounded individuals, and a large fire has erupted at the site.”
The ministry later confirmed that one person had been killed and said many others were injured, including some medical staff. The entire department was evacuated, the ministry said in a statement.
Gaza’s civil defense rescue agency said the hospital’s emergency department had been targeted.
Earlier Sunday, Hamas said an Israeli air strike the previous day near Khan Yunis killed Salah Al-Bardawil, a senior member of its political bureau.
Bardawil, 65, was killed along with his wife in a camp in Al-Mawasi, the group said.
The Israeli military confirmed that it had targeted Bardawil, saying that “as part of his role, (he) directed the strategic and military planning” of Hamas in Gaza.
His “elimination further degrades Hamas’ military and government capabilities,” it added.


EU top diplomat: Israel strikes on Syria, Lebanon ‘risk further escalation’

EU top diplomat: Israel strikes on Syria, Lebanon ‘risk further escalation’
Updated 24 March 2025
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EU top diplomat: Israel strikes on Syria, Lebanon ‘risk further escalation’

EU top diplomat: Israel strikes on Syria, Lebanon ‘risk further escalation’

JERUSALEM: EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas warned on Monday during a visit to Jerusalem that Israeli strikes on Syria and Lebanon threatened to worsen the situation.
“Military actions must be proportionate, and Israeli strikes into Syria and Lebanon risk further escalation,” Kallas said at a joint news conference with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar.


Israel shooting attack kills one, gunman ‘neutralized’

Israel shooting attack kills one, gunman ‘neutralized’
Updated 24 March 2025
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Israel shooting attack kills one, gunman ‘neutralized’

Israel shooting attack kills one, gunman ‘neutralized’
  • A 75-year-old man was killed by the shooting, and that the attack also left a 20-year-old man in critical condition

JERUSALEM: A shooting attack in northern Israel on Monday killed a 75-year-old man and wounded another, first responders said, with police saying officers had “neutralized” the gunman.
The “ramming, stabbing and shooting” attack, according to emergency services provider Magen David Adom, was the first in Israel since it resumed bombardment of the Gaza Strip last week following a January truce in its war with Hamas.
A police statement said that “a terrorist opened fire at civilians and was immediately neutralized by police forces present at the scene” at a junction southeast of the coastal city of Haifa.
Magen David Adom said that a 75-year-old man was killed by the shooting, and that the attack also left a 20-year-old man in critical condition.
A paramedic said in a statement that first responders provided “medical treatment to a young man... who had been hit by a vehicle and suffered penetrating injuries in the attack.”
Israeli police label as “terror” attacks those connected to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.