Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met US President Donald Trump at the White House late on Tuesday to discuss a truce with Hamas. Trump suggested relocating Palestinians from Gaza to other countries.
“It would be my hope that we could do something really nice, really good, where they wouldn’t want to return,” Trump said. “Why would they want to return? The place has been hell.”
Trump earlier said Palestinians would “love” a plan to move them to Middle Eastern countries, including Egypt and Jordan. He took credit for securing the Israel-Hamas truce and was expected to ask Netanyahu to move forward with the next phase of the ceasefire.
Netanyahu, when asked about the possibility of progress, said, “We’re going to try. That’s one of the things we’re going to talk about. When Israel and the United States work together, and President Trump and I work together, the chances go up a lot.”
Egypt, Jordan reject Idea
Egypt and Jordan rejected Trump’s suggestion of relocating Palestinians.
Still, Trump, with Netanyahu by his side, said he believes Egypt and Jordan—as well as other countries which he did not name—will ultimately agree to take in Palestinians.
“You look over the decades, it’s all death in Gaza,” Trump said. “This has been happening for years. It’s all death. If we can get a beautiful area to resettle people, permanently, in nice homes where they can be happy and not be shot and not be killed and not be knifed to death like what’s happening in Gaza.”
Trump said Palestinians should get a “fresh, beautiful piece of land” in another country. “I think they’d love to leave Gaza if they had an option,” he said before his meeting with Netanyahu.
Israel announced it was sending a delegation to Qatar to discuss the second phase of the ceasefire agreement. Hamas confirmed that negotiations had begun, with spokesperson Abdel Latif al-Qanou saying the focus was on “shelter, relief and reconstruction.”
The first phase of the ceasefire, lasting six weeks, involves the exchange of hostages held in Gaza for prisoners in Israeli custody.
Hamas took 251 hostages in its October 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Israel says 76 hostages remain in Gaza, including 34 who are dead. Families of Israeli hostages are urging for the agreement to continue to secure their release.
Trump said he would also work on restarting efforts for a normalization deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia, which were halted after the Gaza war.
Discussions with Netanyahu also included Iran, which supports Hamas and Hezbollah. Before the meeting, Trump signed an order reinstating “maximum pressure” on Iran over allegations of nuclear weapon development.
Since the ceasefire began on January 19, Israel has conducted operations against militants in the occupied West Bank. The UN warned that conditions in the Jenin refugee camp were worsening.
On Tuesday, the Israeli military said a gunman killed two soldiers near Jenin before being shot.
Under the ceasefire, 18 hostages have been freed, and around 600 Palestinian prisoners have been released. More aid, including food, fuel, and medicine, has entered Gaza. Some displaced people have returned to the north.
Hamas’s October 7 attack killed 1,210 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to official Israeli figures. Israel’s response has killed at least 47,518 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. The UN considers these numbers reliable.
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