Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signaled that he was moving ahead with US President Donald Trump’s proposal to transfer the Palestinian population out of Gaza, calling it “the only viable plan to enable a different future” for the region.
Netanyahu discussed the plan with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who kicked off a Middle East visit by endorsing Israel’s war aims in Gaza, saying Hamas “must be eradicated.” That created further doubt around the shaky ceasefire as talks on its second phase are yet to begin.
Netanyahu 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 cooperating with the US on a “common strategy” for the Palestinian territory after a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Jerusalem.
Rubio 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.
“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.”
Speaking at a joint news conference, 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 destabilizing 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 libeled” Israel.
