Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday laid down the three main goals for the country in the Gaza strip.
Speaking at a joint press conference with US President Donald Trump at the White House, Netanyahu argued that Israel is ‘stronger’ than ever after a year and a half of fighting in the Gaza strip. He said that his country has three goals in the Palestinian enclave and stressed that they need to ‘finish the job’ to secure the future and ‘bring peace’ to the region.
“Israel has never been stronger, and Iran’s terror axis has never been weaker. But as we discussed, to secure our future and bring peace to our region, we have to finish the job. In Gaza, Israel has three goals: destroy Hamas’s military and governing capabilities, secure the release of all of our hostages, and ensure that Gaza never again poses a threat to Israel,” Netanyahu told the press conference.
He also praised Trump for his ‘willingness to think outside the box’ and said that it would help Israel in achieving the goals set out for its conflict against Hamas.
“I believe Mr. President, your willingness to puncture conventional thinking, thinking that has failed time and time again, your willingness to think outside the box with fresh ideas will help us achieve all these goals,” he added.
Israel reached a ceasefire agreement with Hamas last month in Gaza to secure the release of the hostages held by the militant group. The three-phased agreement has seen several hostages of the October 7, 2023 attack return home, with the rest slated to be released in the next phases.
Donald Trump bats for US takeover of Gaza strip
President Donald Trump proposed the US taking over the Gaza Strip and assuming responsibility for reconstructing the war-torn territory during a press conference with Benjamin Netanyahu.
“The US will take over the Gaza Strip. We’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site. Level the site, and get rid of the destroyed buildings, level it out, create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area,” Trump said at the White House on Tuesday
Trump suggested he would be open to deploying US troops to secure the area, saying he would “do what is necessary,” and added that he saw the US presence in the contested territory as a “long-term ownership position.” The long-time New York real estate developer painted a vision of a “Riviera of the Middle East” with “world-class” construction projects. He also repeated calls for other nations in the region to take in Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, despite neighboring countries stating publicly they were not interested in doing so.
“It should not go through a process of rebuilding and occupation by the same people that have really stood there and fought for it and lived there and died there and lived a miserable existence there. Instead, we should go to other countries of interest with humanitarian hearts, and there are many of them that want to do this and build various domains that will ultimately be occupied by the 1.8 million Palestinians living in Gaza, ending the death and destruction and frankly bad luck,” he said.
