[🇧🇩] Israel and Hamas war in Gaza-----Can Bangladesh be a peace broker?

[Saif]

Trump says US will take over Gaza, create 'Riviera of the Middle East'

He made the stunning proposal to audible gasps during a joint press conference with Netanyahu

www.thedailystar.net

Trump says US will take over Gaza, create 'Riviera of the Middle East'

US President Donald Trump (R) meets with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on February 4, 2025. Photo: AFP

President Donald Trump revealed a plan on Tuesday for the United States to take over the Gaza Strip, resettle Palestinians in other countries -- seemingly whether they wanted to leave or not -- and turn the territory into "the Riviera of the Middle East."

Trump made the stunning proposal to audible gasps during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom he was hosting at the White House for talks.

In a scheme that lacked details on how he would move out more than two million Palestinians or control Gaza, Trump said he would make the war-battered enclave "unbelievable" by removing unexploded bombs and rubble and economically redeveloping it.

"The US will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it, too. We'll own it," Trump said.

He said there was support from the "highest leadership" in the Middle East and upped pressure on Egypt and Jordan to take displaced Gazans -- despite both countries and the Palestinians flatly rejecting the surprise idea.

Suggesting "long-term ownership" by the United States, Trump said his plan for Gaza would make it "the Riviera of the Middle East. This could be something that could be so magnificent."

Key US ally Netanyahu said Trump's plan could "change history" and was worth "paying attention to."

Netanyahu was making the first visit of a foreign leader to the White House since Trump's return to power, for what were billed as talks on securing a second phase of the Israel-Hamas truce after an initial six-week ceasefire.

'Miserable existence'

But it quickly turned into the shock revelation of a plan that would completely transform the face of the Middle East.

Trump, who also floated traveling to Gaza, appeared to suggest it would not be rebuilt for Palestinians.

"It should not go through a process of rebuilding and occupation by the same people that have... lived there and died there and lived a miserable existence there," he said.

The Palestinian envoy to the UN had pushed back strongly at Trump's suggestions earlier Tuesday -- before his proposal the United States take the territory over -- for his people to be resettled.

"Our homeland is our homeland," said Riyad Mansour.

"And I think that leaders and people should respect the wishes of the Palestinian people."

Gazans have also denounced Trump's resettlement idea. "Trump thinks Gaza is a pile of garbage -- absolutely not," said 34-year-old Hatem Azzam, a resident of the southern city of Rafah.

Trump was vague on the details of how he would execute the takeover plan, but hinted that it could require US boots on the ground in one of the most volatile places on earth "if necessary."

It is not the first time the former property tycoon has spoken about the Palestinian territory in terms of real estate, saying in October it could be "better than Monaco."

Standing at a podium beside Trump, Netanyahu hailed Trump as Israel's "greatest friend" and praised his "willingness to think outside the box."

The two have had tense relations in the past, but Netanyahu has seized on the Republican's return to power after his ties with former president Joe Biden became increasingly strained over the death toll in Gaza since Israel's invasion.

'Winning the war'

The Israeli leader would not rule out a return to hostilities with Hamas, or with its other foes in the region including Lebanon's Hezbollah and Iran.

"We will end the war by winning the war," Netanyahu insisted, while also vowing to secure the return of all hostages held by Hamas.

He did voice confidence that a deal with regional rival Saudi Arabia to normalize relations was "going to happen."

But after Trump aired his proposal, Saudi Arabia said it would not formalize ties with Israel unless a Palestinian state is established.

Trump's grand Gaza plan however is set to face harsh opposition from Palestinians and Middle Eastern countries.

Egypt, Jordan and ceasefire mediator Qatar have all flatly rejected Trump's suggestion of moving Palestinians from Gaza.

The war began when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, taking into Gaza 251 hostages, 76 of whom are still held in the Palestinian territory including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

Hamas's attack resulted in the deaths of 1,210 people on Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Israel's retaliatory response has killed at least 47,518 people in Gaza, the majority civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. The UN considers these figures as reliable.

The truce that took effect on January 18 has led to a surge of food, fuel, medical and other aid into Gaza, and allowed people displaced by the war to return to the north of the Palestinian territory.

But since the Gaza ceasefire took effect, Israel has launched a deadly operation against militants in the occupied West Bank's north.​

 

[Saif]

Hamas rejects Trump proposal to take over Gaza

Palestinian militant group Hamas lashed out Wednesday at president Donald Trump’s shock proposal for the United States to take over the Gaza Strip and resettle its people in other countries, seemingly whether they want to leave or not...

www.newagebd.net

Hamas rejects Trump proposal to take over Gaza
Agence France-Presse . Gaza 06 February, 2025, 00:13

A man rides a donkey-pulled cart past the rubble of destroyed buildings at Saftawi street in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, on Wednesday during a ceasefire deal in the war between Israel and Hamas. | AFP photo

Palestinian militant group Hamas lashed out Wednesday at president Donald Trump’s shock proposal for the United States to take over the Gaza Strip and resettle its people in other countries, seemingly whether they want to leave or not.

Trump made his announcement to audible gasps during a joint press conference with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom he was hosting at the White House for talks.

In a proposal that lacked details on how he would move out more than two million Palestinians or control Gaza, Trump said he would make the war-battered enclave ‘unbelievable’ by removing unexploded bombs and rubble, and economically redeveloping it.

‘The US will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it, too. We’ll own it,’ Trump said.

He said there was support from the ‘highest leadership’ in the Middle East and upped pressure on Egypt and Jordan to take the Gazans — despite both governments flatly rejecting the idea.

Suggesting ‘long-term ownership’ by the United States, Trump said his idea would make it ‘the Riviera of the Middle East. This could be something that could be so magnificent.’

Hamas, which seized sole control of Gaza in 2007, rejected the proposal, branding it a’ racist’ idea.

‘The American racist stance aligns with the Israeli extreme right’s position in displacing our people and eliminating our cause,’ Hamas spokesman Abdel Latif al-Qanou said in a statement.

Much of Gaza was levelled in a 15-month war triggered by Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel, and Trump has repeatedly claimed credit for sealing a ceasefire agreement that took effect last month.

Netanyahu, who has vowed to bring home hostages taken by Hamas and to crush its capabilities, said Trump’s plan could ‘change history’ and was worth ‘paying attention to’.

Netanyahu was making the first visit by a foreign leader to the White House since Trump’s return to power, for what were billed as talks on securing a second phase of the truce.

But it quickly turned into the shock revelation of a proposal that would, if implemented, completely transform the face of the Middle East.

Trump, who also floated travelling to Gaza, appeared to suggest it would not be rebuilt for Palestinians.

‘It should not go through a process of rebuilding and occupation by the same people that have... lived there and died there and lived a miserable existence there,’ he said.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas also rejected the proposal.

‘President Mahmud Abbas and the Palestinian leadership expressed their strong rejection of calls to seize the Gaza Strip and displace Palestinians outside their homeland,’ Abbas’s office said in a statement, adding that ‘legitimate Palestinian rights are not negotiable’.

Palestinians in Gaza have also denounced Trump’s resettlement idea.

‘Trump thinks Gaza is a pile of garbage — absolutely not,’ said 34-year-old Hatem Azzam, a resident of the southern city of Rafah.

For Palestinians, any attempts to force them out of Gaza would evoke dark memories of what the Arab world calls the ‘Nakba’, or catastrophe — the mass displacement of Palestinians during Israel’s creation in 1948.

Trump was vague on the details of how he would execute a takeover, but hinted that it could require US boots on the ground in one of the most volatile places on earth ‘if necessary.’

Standing at a podium beside Trump, Netanyahu hailed Trump as Israel’s ‘greatest friend’ and praised his ‘willingness to think outside the box’.

The two have had tense relations in the past, but Netanyahu has seized on the Republican’s return to power after his ties with former president Joe Biden became strained over the death toll in Gaza.

The Israeli premier would not rule out a return to hostilities with Hamas, or with its other foes in the region including Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Iran.

‘We will end the war by winning the war,’ Netanyahu said, while vowing to secure the return of all hostages held by Hamas.

He did voice confidence that a deal with regional rival Saudi Arabia to normalise relations was ‘going to happen’.

But after Trump aired his proposal, Saudi Arabia said it would not formalise ties with Israel unless a Palestinian state is established.

Trump’s Gaza proposal is set to face harsh opposition.

Egypt, Jordan and ceasefire mediator Qatar have all rejected Trump’s suggestion of moving Palestinians from Gaza.

Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan said relocating Palestinians was something ‘neither we nor the region can accept’.

China too hit out at the proposal, with its foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian saying: ‘China has always maintained that Palestinian rule over Palestinians is the basic principle of the post-war governance of Gaza, and we are opposed to the forced transfer of the residents of Gaza.’

The Gaza war began when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, resulting in the deaths of 1,210 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Israel’s retaliatory response has killed at least 47,518 people in Gaza, the majority civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The United Nations considers the figures reliable.​

 

[Saif]

Can Trump actually 'take over' Gaza?

International laws can't and won't stop him. So then, what can?

www.thedailystar.net

Can Trump actually 'take over' Gaza?

US President Donald Trump welcomes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the entrance of the White House in Washington DC, on February 4, 2025. PHOTO: REUTERS

Standing beside Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in front of the press in the White House, US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday, "We will take over Gaza. We will own it." He went on to say that Gaza could become "the Riviera of the Middle East," where the "world's people" would live. His statement aligns with that of his son-in-law Jared Kushner, who told an audience at Harvard University last year that Israel should remove civilians while it "cleans up" the Gaza Strip, and that Gaza had very valuable "waterfront property."

Trump's announcement sent shockwaves through the world, including staunch Israeli allies such as Germany. Human rights organisations immediately denounced the proposal as ethnic cleansing of the residents of Gaza, the Palestinians, to neighbouring countries—a plan that was rejected by Jordan and Egypt earlier. Many Democrats, who backed Joe Biden's 15 months of financing the mass murder of approximately 61,000 Palestinians in Gaza, found Trump's plan "insane," and extremely immoral. But, of course, it's morally bankrupt and that's besides the point. To understand Donald Trump's intentions, the man who wrote the book Trump: The Art of the Deal, humanitarian values should be put aside. He views geopolitical relationships and foreign policy as real estate business deals, and realising that can take us closer to understanding whether he actually meant what he said and whether he can, or will, do it.

It's easy to dismiss Trump's remarks as unsurprising White colonisation. It is true that the plan shows a sharp departure from long-standing US policy of symbolic "two-state solution." But it must be noted that we are here today because of decades of double standards of that very US policy in the first place, which unconditionally backed Israeli occupation in Palestinian territories and still talked about "two states" and "peace." Sure, Biden had not suggested a plan so aggressive, but his administration had gone around trying to find an "international coalition" that would temporarily govern Gaza after the war. The fact is, US foreign policy has never intentionally recognised Nakba as a root cause of Palestinian resentment towards Israel, and no government has truly cared about Palestinians' rights to self-determination. US national and geopolitical interests in the Middle East simply lie with strong-arming Israel. One could argue that Trump has replaced "Israel" with "United States" in terms of who will own and govern Palestinian land and Palestinian people.

International law, so to speak, has not really been a force to stop any atrocities in Gaza so far. Israel has openly committed crimes against humanity, and Netanyahu stood in the press conference with the US president despite an arrest warrant against him by the International Criminal Court (ICC). The US government's invasion of Afghanistan, for example—on the premise of self-defence—did kill innocent civilians, despite claims that it was only targeting terrorists and enemy combatants. The US has ratified both The Hague and Geneva conventions that render unjustified killing of innocent civilians or unnecessary destruction of property as a violation of international law (however, they don't constitute war crimes). Though the country ratified both conventions, it repeatedly violated them in Afghanistan. The US government denied many instances of civilian suffering until The New York Times published declassified records. Despite the documentation, none of the US military officials involved in strikes were held accountable. Only the victims paid the price for the US military's "mistake." We have seen Netanyahu use the phrase "tragic mistake" to refer to the deadly fire in refugee tents in Rafah last year, after images of charcoaled bodies and a beheaded child went viral.

As history is laden with unaccountability, it should be clear that laws will not stop Trump's plan. So then, what can? Geopolitical relationships with the Arab states, and especially, Saudi Arabia, the most powerful US ally in the region.

In 2020, Trump managed to persuade UAE and Bahrain to sign his Abraham Accords. UAE's reservation to signing the deal was Palestinian statehood and the condition was suspension of Israeli settlers' plans to annex the West Bank. Trump hit the middle ground between the Israeli far-right and UAE to score the deal. Trump's transactionalism embedded in his foreign policy that predates his outlandish statements presents a few questions: is the plan a calculated move to tame both Hamas and Israeli far-right? Or is it a negotiating tactic with the Arab states, particularly Saudi Arabia? Both are plausible.

For Hamas, Trump's plan applies maximum pressure to give up the control of Gaza and simply maintain a presence there. The flip side of Trump's pressure could be Hamas pulling out of the ceasefire agreement, which jeopardises the Israeli hostages returning, and the second phase of the ceasefire which includes a permanent end to the war and withdrawal of Israeli troops. The latter holds little meaning now as Trump suggests Palestinians should leave their homeland anyways. Hamas, which has been destabilised, might settle for maintaining some sort of presence of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, as it would not be able to endure against US troops. On the other hand, far-right extremist Israelis—specifically those who were unhappy with Netanyahu and threatened to collapse his coalition for the ceasefire deal—positively reacted to Trump's plan. An expulsion of 2.5 million Palestinians from the Gaza Strip has been a fantasy of the Israeli far-right, and Netanyahu has faced criticism for not having a "day after Gaza" plan. When Trump made the announcement, Netanyahu seemed incredibly delighted that Trump's idea could reset his own difficult choices in Israel.

Worldwide uproar followed Trump's statement, and Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry was the first to react to the announcement. They affirmed that the nation's position on the establishment of a Palestinian state is "non-negotiable," firm and unwavering with "no compromise," which could presumably refer to the UAE normalisation deal. The statement added that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman "clearly and unequivocally reaffirmed this stance."

For the past 15 months of Palestinian slaughter in Gaza, many of the Arab states have been on the sideline, with Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia clamping down on pro-Palestinian protests in their own nations. All these nations have authoritarian governments who view grassroots activism as a threat to their regimes. "Arab states today do not like Palestinian nationalism because Palestinian nationalism is a source of popular mobilisation on the Arab street," according to Nader Hashemi, director of the Prince Alwaleed Center for Christian-Muslim Understanding at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service. But in order to keep pro-Palestinian sentiments under control, Arab states have catered to public opinion with token gestures to support Palestine against Israel and succumbing to Trump's plan would fuel public anger.

On the geopolitical front, relations with the US have been a source of security aid and financial assistance for some Arab states, and have prevented them from confronting Israel. For Mohammed bin Salman, eliminating Hamas and Hezbollah, who do not exist in Saudi Arabia, has been in his best interest against archrival Iran to maintain his nation's dominance in the Middle East, and to ensure no politicisation of Islam can topple him in his country. Normalising relationships with Israel, too, is in his interest as it's good for business—an ideology he shares with Trump. Mohammed bin Salman wants deals with the US for security and weapons, and Trump has already talked about asking Saudi Arabia to invest $1 trillion in the US economy and lower oil prices. Here, Trump's Gaza plan puts a spanner in the works. Mohammed bin Salman would be careful so as to not anger his citizens by supporting Trump's plan to expel Palestinians from Gaza. Making compromises could risk his position domestically, while losing deals with the US would not serve him geopolitically.

Egypt, on the other hand, needs US money to exist, and also serves as a lynchpin containing a potential powder keg of radical sentiment that, if detonated, would puncture European and US interests. Jordan, as well, is not only a close ally of the US, but dependent on US aid. Trump has already threatened economic blockades for Jordan, and King Abdullah is scheduled to visit the White House next week. But Egypt and Jordan can avert an economic blow if the wealthy Gulf nations unite against Trump's Gaza plan. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has indicated that Jordan can change its position and accept Palestinian refugees from Gaza.

Whether Trump can coerce Arab States to get what he wants remains to be seen. The US president made the statement with the prime minister of Israel beside him, and to analyse it with a reactionary perspective such as the "madman" theory, as David Remnick of the New Yorker has done, only circulates blame games at those who voted for Trump, believing his campaign promise that the US would end all foreign wars, especially in Gaza. Trump has intentions in saying what he said, and determining what they are is difficult; he is the harbinger of potent unpredictability.

The Trump administration has made it clear that the "Riviera of the Middle East" would not be made with US funds, supposedly expecting Arab states to foot the bill. Trump's proposal to play around with the lives of Palestinians could very well be a far-reaching offer on the table in exchange for normalisation, or Gaza's reconstruction funded by wealthy Gulf nations. If we think of it as a deal, it also means that he could soften his position, and settle for less. He could very well not move forward if Arab states offer concessions acceptable to his geo-economic agendas. Donald Trump does not always follow through. But whether he does usually depends on short-term gains that portray him as the winner and the strongman who is "reviving America" as the sole superpower—in other words, making America great again.

Ramisa Rob is in-charge of Geopolitical Insights at The Daily Star.​

 

[Saif]

Israel orders army to plan to let Palestinians leave Gaza

Israel’s defence minister ordered the army on Thursday to prepare for ‘voluntary’ departures from Gaza, after US president Donald Trump proposed moving Palestinians out of the territory.

www.newagebd.net

Israel orders army to plan to let Palestinians leave Gaza
Agence France-Presse . Jerusalem 07 February, 2025, 00:47

Israel’s defence minister ordered the army on Thursday to prepare for ‘voluntary’ departures from Gaza, after US president Donald Trump proposed moving Palestinians out of the territory.

The idea sparked uproar from leaders in the Middle East and beyond. On Wednesday, the Trump administration appeared to walk back some of the suggestions.

Hours later, Israeli defence minister Israel Katz said he had instructed the military to formulate a plan for Palestinians to leave Gaza, which has been ravaged by more than a year of war.

‘I have instructed the IDF (military) to prepare a plan to enable voluntary departure for Gaza residents,’ Katz said, adding they could go ‘to any country willing to accept them’.

Trump announced his proposal to audible gasps on Tuesday at a joint press conference with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the first foreign leader to meet him at the White House since his inauguration.

The United Nations warned any forced displacement of Palestinians would be ‘tantamount to ethnic cleansing’.

Trump insisted ‘everybody loves’ the plan, saying it would involve the United States taking over Gaza, though he offered few details on how more than two million Palestinians would be removed.

His administration later appeared to backtrack, with secretary of state Marco Rubio saying any transfer of Gazans would be temporary, while the White House denied any commitment to sending US troops.

The US president doubled down on his proposal on Thursday, saying no US soldiers would be needed in Gaza as part of the plan.

‘No soldiers by the US would be needed! Stability for the region would reign!!!’ he said in on his Truth Social platform.

Netanyahu hailed Trump as Israel’s ‘greatest friend’ and, speaking to Fox News on Wednesday, called the proposal ‘remarkable’.

‘I think it should be really pursued, examined, pursued and done, because I think it will create a different future for everyone.’

He suggested Palestinians would not necessarily leave permanently.

‘They can leave, they can then come back, they can relocate and come back, but you have to rebuild Gaza.’

Katz said Trump’s plan ‘could create broad opportunities for Gaza residents who wish to leave, help them integrate optimally in host countries, and also facilitate the advancement of reconstruction programs for a demilitarised, threat-free Gaza’.

Far-right Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich — who has repeatedly expressed support for Trump’s proposal to relocate Gazans, and who vowed Wednesday to ‘definitively bury’ the idea of a Palestinian state — said he welcomed Katz’s move.

Much of the Gaza Strip has been levelled by the war sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, the deadliest in the country’s history, but Palestinians residing in the coastal territory have vowed not to leave.

For them, any attempt to push them out of Gaza recalls the ‘Nakba’, or ‘catastrophe’ — the mass displacement of Palestinians during Israel’s creation in 1948.

‘They can do whatever they want, but we will remain steadfast in our homeland,’ said 41-year-old Gazan Ahmed Halasa.

Israelis in Jerusalem largely welcomed Trump’s proposal, though some doubted it could be carried out.

‘I really like what he said, but in my wildest dreams it’s hard for me to believe it will happen, but who knows,’ said 65-year-old Refael.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump wanted Palestinians to only be ‘temporarily relocated’ out of Gaza.

‘It’s not a liveable place for any human being,’ she said.

Trump, who also suggested he might visit Gaza, appeared to imply it would not be rebuilt for Palestinians.

Even before Tuesday’s announcements, Trump had suggested residents of Gaza should move to Egypt and Jordan, both of which have flatly rejected any resettlement of Palestinians on their territory.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas rejected the proposal, calling it a ‘serious violation’ of international law and insisting that ‘legitimate Palestinian rights are not negotiable’.

UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres emphasised ‘the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people to simply live as human beings in their own land’.

His spokesman Stephane Dujarric, when asked about Trump’s plan, said: ‘Any forced displacement of people is tantamount to ethnic cleansing.’

Hamas, which took sole control of Gaza in 2007, rejected the proposal, branding it ‘racist’ and ‘aggressive’.

Israel’s military offensive in response to Hamas’s attack has left much of Gaza in ruins, including schools, hospitals and most civil infrastructure.

Human Rights Watch said the destruction of Gaza ‘reflects a calculated Israeli policy to make parts of the strip unliveable’.

Trump’s plan ‘would move the US from being complicit in war crimes to direct perpetration of atrocities’, said Lama Fakih, an HRW regional director.

In a bid to address the dire humanitarian situation, aid has been rushed into the territory since a fragile ceasefire took effect on January 19.

UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said Thursday that more than 10,000 aid trucks had crossed into Gaza since the truce went into effect, calling it ‘a massive surge’.​

 

[Saif]

Trump says Israel would hand over Gaza after fighting, no US troops needed

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Israel would hand over Gaza to the United States after fighting was over and the enclave’s population was already resettled elsewhere, which he said meant no US troops would be needed on the ground. A day after worldwide condemnation of Trump&r

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Trump says Israel would hand over Gaza after fighting, no US troops needed
REUTERS
Published :
Feb 06, 2025 20:02
Updated :
Feb 06, 2025 20:02

Palestinians make their way along a road on a rainy day, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City February 6, 2025. Photo : REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Israel would hand over Gaza to the United States after fighting was over and the enclave’s population was already resettled elsewhere, which he said meant no US troops would be needed on the ground.

A day after worldwide condemnation of Trump’s announcement that he aimed to take over and develop the Gaza Strip into the “Riviera of the Middle East”, Israel ordered its army to prepare to allow the “voluntary departure” of Gaza’s residents.

Trump, who had previously declined to rule out deploying US troops to Gaza, clarified his plans in comments on his Truth Social web platform.

“The Gaza Strip would be turned over to the United States by Israel at the conclusion of fighting,” he said. Palestinians “would have already been resettled in far safer and more beautiful communities, with new and modern homes, in the region.”

“No soldiers by the US” would be needed!” he said.

Earlier Israel’s Defence Minister said he had ordered the army to prepare a plan to allow residents who wished to leave to exit Gaza voluntarily.

“I welcome President Trump’s bold plan, Gaza residents should be allowed the freedom to leave and emigrate, as is the norm around the world,” Katz said on X.

Katz said his plan would include exit options via land crossings, as well as special arrangements for departure by sea and air.

Trump’s unexpected announcement on Wednesday, which has sparked anger around the Middle East, came as Israel and Hamas were expected to begin talks on the second round of a fragile ceasefire plan to end almost 16 months of fighting in Gaza.

Regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia rejected the proposal outright and Jordan’s King Abdullah, who will meet Trump at the White House next week, said on Wednesday he rejected any attempts to annex land and displace Palestinians.

Hamas official Basem Naim accused Katz of trying to cover up “for a state that has failed to achieve any of its objectives in the war on Gaza”, and said Palestinians are too attached to their land to ever leave.

Displacement of Palestinians has been one of the most sensitive issues in the Middle East for decades. Forced or coerced displacement of a population under military occupation is a war crime, banned under the 1949 Geneva Conventions.

Israeli strikes which killed tens of thousands of people over the past 16 months have forced Palestinians to repeatedly move around within Gaza, seeking safety.

But many say they will never leave the enclave because they fear permanent displacement, like the “Nakba”, or catastrophe, when hundreds of thousands were dispossessed from homes in the war at the birth of the state of Israel in 1948.

Katz said countries who have opposed Israel’s military operations in Gaza should take in the Palestinians.

“Countries like Spain, Ireland, Norway, and others, which have levelled accusations and false claims against Israel over its actions in Gaza, are legally obligated to allow any Gaza resident to enter their territories,” he said.​

 

[Saif]

Gaza belongs to its people

US "taking over" Gaza is an outrageous idea

www.thedailystar.net

Gaza belongs to its people
US "taking over" Gaza is an outrageous idea

VISUAL: STAR

The US may no longer be the beacon of hope it once was, but there are still things expected from the country as a global power. Chief among them is a responsibility to uphold basic human rights and international law. This expectation has been tested time and again, but rarely as starkly as it is now, with Donald Trump's alarming plan for Gaza. On Tuesday evening, at a joint news conference alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the US president proposed "long-term ownership" of Gaza by the United States. This came after he repeatedly called in recent days for the war-ravaged territory's 1.2 million residents to be resettled. While officials later tried to walk back the takeover proposal amid fierce criticism, saying any displacement of Gazans would be temporary, Trump on Thursday restated his vision, suggesting his determination to go ahead with it.

For decades, US foreign policy—despite its inconsistencies—has at least paid lip service to a two-state solution for the peaceful coexistence of Israel and Palestine. Trump's approach obliterates that pretence. If implemented, it would not only mean "ethnic cleansing" in Gaza—as the UN chief has rightly called it—but also set an extremely dangerous precedent where stronger powers might feel emboldened to resolve territorial disputes through mass expulsions.

This should send shivers down the spine of anyone who values justice and human rights. For decades, US foreign policy—despite its inconsistencies—has at least paid lip service to a two-state solution for the peaceful coexistence of Israel and Palestine. Trump's approach obliterates that pretence. If implemented, it would not only mean "ethnic cleansing" in Gaza—as the UN chief has rightly called it—but also set an extremely dangerous precedent where stronger powers might feel emboldened to resolve territorial disputes through mass expulsions. It is also deeply insulting for the Gazans after the genocide and devastation they endured at the hands of Israel over the last 15 months. Suggesting that those still alive should be uprooted, cast aside, and scattered across unwilling nations is outrageous, to say the least.

Naturally, Palestinians and Arab states where Trump and Netanyahu want Gazans to be resettled have rejected the proposal. Similarly, the world must also stand firm against this effort to make the suffering of Gazans permanent by robbing them of their homeland. Reportedly, emboldened by Trump, Israel has already instructed its military to formulate a plan for their "voluntary" departures. In other words, a permanent displacement may already be in motion even though they have only recently begun to return to the rubble they once called home following a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. All nations must come forward to prevent this modern-day holocaust.​

 

[Saif]

Can Trump actually 'take over' Gaza?

International laws can't and won't stop him. So then, what can?

www.thedailystar.net

Can Trump actually 'take over' Gaza?

US President Donald Trump welcomes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the entrance of the White House in Washington DC, on February 4, 2025. PHOTO: REUTERS

Standing beside Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in front of the press in the White House, US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday, "We will take over Gaza. We will own it." He went on to say that Gaza could become "the Riviera of the Middle East," where the "world's people" would live. His statement aligns with that of his son-in-law Jared Kushner, who told an audience at Harvard University last year that Israel should remove civilians while it "cleans up" the Gaza Strip, and that Gaza had very valuable "waterfront property."

Trump's announcement sent shockwaves through the world, including staunch Israeli allies such as Germany. Human rights organisations immediately denounced the proposal as ethnic cleansing of the residents of Gaza, the Palestinians, to neighbouring countries—a plan that was rejected by Jordan and Egypt earlier. Many Democrats, who backed Joe Biden's 15 months of financing the mass murder of approximately 61,000 Palestinians in Gaza, found Trump's plan "insane," and extremely immoral. But, of course, it's morally bankrupt and that's besides the point. To understand Donald Trump's intentions, the man who wrote the book Trump: The Art of the Deal, humanitarian values should be put aside. He views geopolitical relationships and foreign policy as real estate business deals, and realising that can take us closer to understanding whether he actually meant what he said and whether he can, or will, do it.

It's easy to dismiss Trump's remarks as unsurprising White colonisation. It is true that the plan shows a sharp departure from long-standing US policy of symbolic "two-state solution." But it must be noted that we are here today because of decades of double standards of that very US policy in the first place, which unconditionally backed Israeli occupation in Palestinian territories and still talked about "two states" and "peace." Sure, Biden had not suggested a plan so aggressive, but his administration had gone around trying to find an "international coalition" that would temporarily govern Gaza after the war. The fact is, US foreign policy has never intentionally recognised Nakba as a root cause of Palestinian resentment towards Israel, and no government has truly cared about Palestinians' rights to self-determination. US national and geopolitical interests in the Middle East simply lie with strong-arming Israel. One could argue that Trump has replaced "Israel" with "United States" in terms of who will own and govern Palestinian land and Palestinian people.

International law, so to speak, has not really been a force to stop any atrocities in Gaza so far. Israel has openly committed crimes against humanity, and Netanyahu stood in the press conference with the US president despite an arrest warrant against him by the International Criminal Court (ICC). The US government's invasion of Afghanistan, for example—on the premise of self-defence—did kill innocent civilians, despite claims that it was only targeting terrorists and enemy combatants. The US has ratified both The Hague and Geneva conventions that render unjustified killing of innocent civilians or unnecessary destruction of property as a violation of international law (however, they don't constitute war crimes). Though the country ratified both conventions, it repeatedly violated them in Afghanistan. The US government denied many instances of civilian suffering until The New York Times published declassified records. Despite the documentation, none of the US military officials involved in strikes were held accountable. Only the victims paid the price for the US military's "mistake." We have seen Netanyahu use the phrase "tragic mistake" to refer to the deadly fire in refugee tents in Rafah last year, after images of charcoaled bodies and a beheaded child went viral.

As history is laden with unaccountability, it should be clear that laws will not stop Trump's plan. So then, what can? Geopolitical relationships with the Arab states, and especially, Saudi Arabia, the most powerful US ally in the region.

In 2020, Trump managed to persuade UAE and Bahrain to sign his Abraham Accords. UAE's reservation to signing the deal was Palestinian statehood and the condition was suspension of Israeli settlers' plans to annex the West Bank. Trump hit the middle ground between the Israeli far-right and UAE to score the deal. Trump's transactionalism embedded in his foreign policy that predates his outlandish statements presents a few questions: is the plan a calculated move to tame both Hamas and Israeli far-right? Or is it a negotiating tactic with the Arab states, particularly Saudi Arabia? Both are plausible.

For Hamas, Trump's plan applies maximum pressure to give up the control of Gaza and simply maintain a presence there. The flip side of Trump's pressure could be Hamas pulling out of the ceasefire agreement, which jeopardises the Israeli hostages returning, and the second phase of the ceasefire which includes a permanent end to the war and withdrawal of Israeli troops. The latter holds little meaning now as Trump suggests Palestinians should leave their homeland anyways. Hamas, which has been destabilised, might settle for maintaining some sort of presence of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, as it would not be able to endure against US troops. On the other hand, far-right extremist Israelis—specifically those who were unhappy with Netanyahu and threatened to collapse his coalition for the ceasefire deal—positively reacted to Trump's plan. An expulsion of 2.5 million Palestinians from the Gaza Strip has been a fantasy of the Israeli far-right, and Netanyahu has faced criticism for not having a "day after Gaza" plan. When Trump made the announcement, Netanyahu seemed incredibly delighted that Trump's idea could reset his own difficult choices in Israel.

Worldwide uproar followed Trump's statement, and Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry was the first to react to the announcement. They affirmed that the nation's position on the establishment of a Palestinian state is "non-negotiable," firm and unwavering with "no compromise," which could presumably refer to the UAE normalisation deal. The statement added that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman "clearly and unequivocally reaffirmed this stance."

For the past 15 months of Palestinian slaughter in Gaza, many of the Arab states have been on the sideline, with Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia clamping down on pro-Palestinian protests in their own nations. All these nations have authoritarian governments who view grassroots activism as a threat to their regimes. "Arab states today do not like Palestinian nationalism because Palestinian nationalism is a source of popular mobilisation on the Arab street," according to Nader Hashemi, director of the Prince Alwaleed Center for Christian-Muslim Understanding at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service. But in order to keep pro-Palestinian sentiments under control, Arab states have catered to public opinion with token gestures to support Palestine against Israel and succumbing to Trump's plan would fuel public anger.

On the geopolitical front, relations with the US have been a source of security aid and financial assistance for some Arab states, and have prevented them from confronting Israel. For Mohammed bin Salman, eliminating Hamas and Hezbollah, who do not exist in Saudi Arabia, has been in his best interest against archrival Iran to maintain his nation's dominance in the Middle East, and to ensure no politicisation of Islam can topple him in his country. Normalising relationships with Israel, too, is in his interest as it's good for business—an ideology he shares with Trump. Mohammed bin Salman wants deals with the US for security and weapons, and Trump has already talked about asking Saudi Arabia to invest $1 trillion in the US economy and lower oil prices. Here, Trump's Gaza plan puts a spanner in the works. Mohammed bin Salman would be careful so as to not anger his citizens by supporting Trump's plan to expel Palestinians from Gaza. Making compromises could risk his position domestically, while losing deals with the US would not serve him geopolitically.

Egypt, on the other hand, needs US money to exist, and also serves as a lynchpin containing a potential powder keg of radical sentiment that, if detonated, would puncture European and US interests. Jordan, as well, is not only a close ally of the US, but dependent on US aid. Trump has already threatened economic blockades for Jordan, and King Abdullah is scheduled to visit the White House next week. But Egypt and Jordan can avert an economic blow if the wealthy Gulf nations unite against Trump's Gaza plan. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has indicated that Jordan can change its position and accept Palestinian refugees from Gaza.

Whether Trump can coerce Arab States to get what he wants remains to be seen. The US president made the statement with the prime minister of Israel beside him, and to analyse it with a reactionary perspective such as the "madman" theory, as David Remnick of the New Yorker has done, only circulates blame games at those who voted for Trump, believing his campaign promise that the US would end all foreign wars, especially in Gaza. Trump has intentions in saying what he said, and determining what they are is difficult; he is the harbinger of potent unpredictability.

The Trump administration has made it clear that the "Riviera of the Middle East" would not be made with US funds, supposedly expecting Arab states to foot the bill. Trump's proposal to play around with the lives of Palestinians could very well be a far-reaching offer on the table in exchange for normalisation, or Gaza's reconstruction funded by wealthy Gulf nations. If we think of it as a deal, it also means that he could soften his position, and settle for less. He could very well not move forward if Arab states offer concessions acceptable to his geo-economic agendas. Donald Trump does not always follow through. But whether he does usually depends on short-term gains that portray him as the winner and the strongman who is "reviving America" as the sole superpower—in other words, making America great again.

Ramisa Rob is in-charge of Geopolitical Insights at The Daily Star.​

 

[Saif]

GREAT MARCH OF HOPE: Gaza’s defiance against erasure

THE return of one million Palestinians from southern Gaza to the north on January 27 felt as if history was choreographing one of its most earth-shattering events in recent memory.

www.newagebd.net

GREAT MARCH OF HOPE: Gaza’s defiance against erasure
by Ramzy Baroud 08 February, 2025, 00:24

THE return of one million Palestinians from southern Gaza to the north on January 27 felt as if history was choreographing one of its most earth-shattering events in recent memory.

Hundreds of thousands of people marched along a single street, the coastal Rashid street, at the furthest western stretch of Gaza. Though these displaced masses were cut off from each other in massive displacement camps in central Gaza and the Mawasi region further south, they sang the same songs, chanted the same chants, and used the same talking points.

During their forced displacement, they had no electricity and no means of communication, let alone coordination. They were ordinary people, hauling a few items of clothing and whatever survival tools they had following the unprecedented Israeli genocide. They headed north to homes they knew were likely destroyed by the Israeli army. Yet, they remained committed to their march back to their annihilated cities and refugee camps. Many smiled, others sang religious hymns, and some recited national songs and poems.

A little girl offered a news reporter a poem she composed. ‘I am a Palestinian girl, and I am proud,’ her voice blared. She recited simple but emotional verses about identifying as a ‘strong, resilient Palestinian girl.’ She spoke of her relationship with her family and community as the ‘daughter of heroes, the daughter of Gaza,’ declaring that Gazans ‘prefer death over shame.’ Her return to her destroyed home was a ‘day of victory.’

‘Victory’ was a word repeated by virtually everyone interviewed by the media and countless times on social media. While many, including some sympathetic to the Palestinian cause, openly challenged the Gazans’ view of their perceived ‘victory,’ they failed to appreciate the history of Palestine — indeed, the history of all colonised people who wrested their freedom from the claws of foreign, brutal enemies.

‘Difficulties break some men but make others. No axe is sharp enough to cut the soul of (someone) armed with the hope that he will rise even in the end,’ iconic anti-apartheid South African leader Nelson Mandela wrote in a letter to his wife in 1975 from his prison cell. His words, written in the context of South Africa’s struggle, feel as if they were written for Palestinians, especially Gaza’s latest triumph against erasure — both physical and psychological.

To understand this better, examine what Israeli political and military leaders said about northern Gaza immediately after the start of the genocidal war on October 7, 2023:

Israel will maintain ‘overall security responsibility’ for the Gaza strip ‘for an indefinite period,’ said Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an interview with the ABC News network in November 2023.

One year later, the Israeli army reiterated the same sentiment. In a statement, Israeli Brigadier General Itzik Cohen told Israeli reporters that there would be ‘no return’ for any residents of northern Gaza.

Finance minister Bezalel Smotrich went further. ‘It is possible to create a situation where Gaza’s population will be reduced to half its current size in two years,’ he said on November 26, stating that Israel should re-occupy Gaza and ‘encourage’ the migration of its inhabitants.

Many other Israeli officials and experts repeated the same notion like a predictable chorus. Settler groups held a conference last June to assess real estate opportunities in Gaza. In their minds, they were the only ones with a say over Gaza’s future. Palestinians seemed inconsequential to the wheel of history, controlled, as the powerful arrogantly believed, by Tel Aviv alone.

But the endless mass of people sang, ‘Do you think you can measure up to the free, measure up to the Palestinians?.. We will die before we surrender our home; they call us the freedom fighters.’

Many media outlets, including Israeli ones, reported a sense of shock in Israel as the population returned en masse to a fully destroyed region. The shock does not end there. Israel failed to occupy the north, ethnically cleanse Palestinians from Gaza, or break their collective spirit. Instead, Palestinians emerged stronger, more determined, and, equally frightening for Israel, with a new objective: returning to historic Palestine.

For decades, Israel invested in a singular discourse regarding the internationally recognised Palestinian Right of Return to their homes in historic Palestine. Almost every Israeli leader or top official since the 1948 Nakba (the ‘Catastrophe’ resulting from the destruction of the Palestinian homeland) echoed this. Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak summarised it in 2000 during the Camp David negotiations, when he drew his ‘bottom line’ in any peace deal with the Palestinians: there would be no right of return for Palestinian refugees.

As Gaza has proven, Palestinians do not take their cues from Israel or even those who claim to represent them. As they marched north, four generations of Palestinians walked together, at times holding hands, singing for freedom and return — not only to the north but further north to historic Palestine itself.

Since the Nakba, Israel has insisted it will write the history of the land between the Jordan River and the sea. But Palestinians continue to prove Israel wrong. They survived in Gaza despite genocide. They remained. They returned. They emerged with a sense of victory. They are writing their own history, which, despite immeasurable and unimaginable losses, is also a history of hope and victory.

Countercurrents.org, February 7. Dr Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and the editor of The Palestine Chronicle.​