Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu has said that his government is working closely with the US to implement Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza, which involves US ownership of the coastal strip, the removal of more than 2 million Palestinians and the redevelopment of the territory.
Netanyahu said this at a press conference after a meeting in Jerusalem with the US Secretary of state, Marco Rubio, who defended Trump’s plan for Gaza as bold and visionary.
Trump’s shock proposal earlier this month for a “Riviera of the Middle East” has been condemned around the world as a blueprint for ethnic cleansing, but Rubio and Netanyahu insisted it would proceed.
Netanyahu told reporters after the meeting, “We discussed Trump’s bold vision for Gaza’s future and will work to ensure that vision becomes a reality.” He added, “We have a common strategy, and we can’t always share the details of this strategy with the public.”
He did say, however, that it included opening “the gates of hell” on Gaza, a phrased used by Trump, if all the Israeli hostages held by Hamas and other militant groups were not released.
Rubio promoted the Trump plan as a breakthrough.
“It may have shocked and surprised many but what cannot continue is the same cycle where we repeat over and over again and wind up in the exact same place.”
Marco Rubio
Israel’s Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, said on Saturday night that he hoped the mass transfer of Palestinians from Gaza endorsed by Trump could begin soon.
He said that he expected Palestinians would be forced to leave by a resumption of bombing.
“It’s a process I hope will begin in the coming weeks. Even if it’s slow at first, it will gradually pick up pace and intensify. There won’t be anything for the Gazans in Gaza for the next 10 to 15 years. After we go back to fighting, and all of Gaza looks like Jabaliya, there definitely will be nothing for them there.”
Bezalel Smotrich
Smotrich was referring to Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza, which was flattened by blanket bombing during 15 months of conflict.
He said that ultimately the vast majority of Palestinians would want to leave, and that the challenges for Israel would be finding countries willing and able to take 2 million Palestinians, coupled with “the huge logistical operation to get such vast numbers of people out of here.”
The planned removal of Palestinians from Gaza is a potential crime against humanity.
The International Court of Justice is already examining allegations of genocide against Israel, and the international criminal court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants against Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant, for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Netanyahu denounced both courts for what he called “lawfare”, thanked the Trump administration for placing sanctions on the ICC, and suggested more joint action against international judicial institutions was being planned.
Netanyahu, Rubio Discuss Iran Amid Trump’s Plan For Gaza
Also at the press statement in Jerusalem, Netanyahu and Rubio began their presentations on Iran, which they said was primarily responsible for all the instability and violence in the region.
Netanyahu said that they agreed that Tehran could never have nuclear weapons and that “Iran’s aggression in the region has to be rolled back.”
“There can never be a nuclear Iran, a nuclear Iran that could then hold itself immune from pressure and from action. That can never happen.
“Behind every terrorist group, behind every act of violence, behind every destabilising activity, behind everything that threatens peace and stability for the millions of people who call this region home, is Iran.”
Marco Rubio
During Trump’s first administration, Netanyahu failed to convince him to participate in joint strikes against Iran’s nuclear programme.
However, the heightened rhetoric of the new administration has raised questions about whether the Israeli Prime Minister might succeed this time.
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