Trump, hosting Jordan’s king, renews his insistence that the US can take over Gaza
“In light of Hamas’ announcement of its decision to violate the agreement and not release our hostages, last night I ordered the IDF to gather forces inside and around the Gaza Strip,” Netanyahu said, speaking after a meeting of his security cabinet.
“This operation is being carried out at this time. It will be completed in the very near future,” he said in a statement.
Trump used the meeting with the Jordanian king to double down on his threat of letting “hell break out”.
“I don’t think they’re going to make the deadline, personally,” Trump said of Hamas. “They want to play tough guy. We’ll see how tough they are.”
Abdullah’s visit comes at a perilous moment for the ongoing ceasefire in Gaza. Hamas has accused Israel of violating the truce and said it would pause future releases of hostages captured in its October 7, 2023, attack.
Trump has repeatedly proposed the US take control of Gaza and turn it into “the Riviera of the Middle East,” with Palestinians in the war-torn territory pushed into neighbouring nations with no right of return.
Jordan is home to more than 2 million Palestinians and, along with other Arab states, has flatly rejected Trump’s plan to relocate civilians from Gaza. Its Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said last week that his country’s opposition to Trump’s idea was “firm and unwavering”.
Besides concerns about jeopardising the long-held goals of a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict, Egypt and Jordan have privately raised security concerns about welcoming large numbers of additional refugees into their countries, even temporarily.
Trump announced his ideas for resettling Palestinians from Gaza and taking ownership of the territory for the US during a press conference last week with Netanyahu.
The president initially didn’t rule out deploying US troops to help secure Gaza but, at the same time, insisted no US funds would go to pay for the reconstruction of the territory, raising fundamental questions about the nature of his plan.
AP
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