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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has met United States President Donald Trump astatine the White House, with the 2 leaders repeating their arguable connection to forcibly transportation thousands of Palestinians retired of the Gaza Strip.
Trump and Netanyahu met for meal successful the Blue Room of the White House connected Monday arsenic indirect talks successful Qatar betwixt Israel and Hamas connected US-backed proposals for a 60-day ceasefire to extremity the 21-month Gaza warfare appeared to stitchery immoderate momentum.
Netanyahu told reporters contiguous astatine the gathering that the US and Israel were moving with different countries to springiness Palestinians a “better future”, suggesting that the residents of Gaza could determination to neighbouring nations.
“If radical privation to stay, they tin stay, but if they privation to leave, they should beryllium capable to leave. It shouldn’t beryllium a prison. It should beryllium an unfastened spot and springiness radical a escaped choice,” Netanyahu said.
“We’re moving with the United States precise intimately astir uncovering countries that volition question to realise what they ever say, that they wanted to springiness the Palestinians a amended future. I deliberation we’re getting adjacent to uncovering respective countries.”
Trump, who earlier this twelvemonth caused outrage erstwhile helium floated his thought of relocating Palestinians and taking implicit the Strip to crook it into a “Riviera of the Middle East”, said determination had been “great cooperation” connected the substance from “surrounding countries”.
“So thing bully volition happen,” helium added.
‘Recipe for catastrophe’
“This is thing the Israelis person been saying for immoderate time, calling it the ‘voluntary migration’ of Palestinians from their homelands. But of course, this has been condemned arsenic taste cleansing,” Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut said, reporting from Amman, Jordan.
Former Israeli diplomat Alon Pinkas told Al Jazeera that conscionable due to the fact that determination are ongoing reports and statements astir relocating Palestinians successful Gaza to different countries, it does not mean that determination is simply a “practical plan”.
“The information that the Israeli defence curate blurts immoderate ideas out, oregon adjacent the premier minister, oregon adjacent the president of the United States, doesn’t mean determination is simply a plan,” helium said.
“In aboriginal February, Trump spoke astir a Palestinian Riviera, and wrong 36 hours, helium changed that from a Riviera for the Palestinians to the Palestinians volition beryllium expelled,” helium added.
Pinkas explained that amid reports that the Boston Consulting Group, which has been asked to travel up with a program to relocate Palestinians, it “doesn’t mean it’s implementable, it doesn’t mean it’s practical”.
“[It] is simply a look for catastrophe due to the fact that it ensures that nary [post-war] statement successful Gaza is durable,” Pinkas said.
Trump and Netanyahu met arsenic Israeli and Hamas negotiators held a 2nd time of indirect talks successful Qatar, seated successful antithetic rooms successful the aforesaid building. Proposals for a 60-day intermission successful warring envisage a phased merchandise of Hamas-held captives and Palestinian prisoners, Israeli unit withdrawals from parts of Gaza, and discussions connected wholly ending the war.
But a sticking constituent is whether the ceasefire volition extremity the warfare altogether. Hamas has said it is consenting to escaped each the captives successful speech for each Palestinian prisoners and a afloat Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Netanyahu says the warfare volition extremity erstwhile Hamas surrenders, disarms and goes into exile – thing the Palestinian radical refuses to do.
In beforehand of Netanyahu’s sojourn to the US, Trump predicted that a ceasefire woody could beryllium reached this week. But Netanyahu appeared cagey, ruling retired a afloat Palestinian state, saying Israel volition “always” support information power implicit the Gaza Strip.
Monday’s talks successful Qatar ended with nary announcements. Trump’s peculiar envoy Steve Witkoff, who played an important relation successful crafting the proposals, is expected to articulation negotiators successful Qatar this week.
Coveted Nobel nomination
Trump and Netanyahu’s discussions came conscionable implicit 2 weeks aft the erstwhile ordered the bombing of Iranian atomic sites successful enactment of Israeli aerial strikes, earlier announcing a ceasefire successful the 12-day Israel-Iran war.
During their meeting, Netanyahu gave Trump a missive that helium said had been utilized to nominate the US president for the Nobel Peace Prize. Trump, appearing pleased by the gesture, thanked him.
“So overmuch of this is astir optics,” said Al Jazeera’s Phil Lavelle, reporting from Washington, DC. “Of course, the [Israeli] premier curate volition beryllium precise keen to marque definite that this is seen backmost location arsenic a large occurrence … He is precise keen to marque definite that helium is portrayed arsenic being backmost successful the bully favours of Donald Trump.”
Trump has made small concealed of the information that helium covets a Nobel, trumpeting caller truces that his medication facilitated betwixt India and Pakistan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda.
During the meeting, Trump indicated that Iranian officials person reached retired to the US to docket talks astir Iran’s atomic programme. Negotiations had started successful April but were scuppered aft Israel launched attacks past month.
“We person scheduled Iran talks, and they … privation to talk. They took a large drubbing,” said the US president.
Sitting astatine the array with Trump, Witkoff said the gathering would beryllium soon, possibly successful a week.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said successful an interrogation with US writer Tucker Carlson, released connected Monday, that helium believed Tehran could resoluteness its differences with Washington done dialogue.
Netanyahu, who besides met Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio connected Monday, is owed to conscionable Vice President JD Vance connected Tuesday greeting (about 13:30 GMT).
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