Netanyahu applauds Trump’s “revolutionary” plan for Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu described as “revolutionary” on Sunday, the proposal of the American president, Donald Trump, who provides for American Gaza Strip and the trip of the Palestinians, displaying a triumphant tone before his office after His return from Washington.

Despite the entry into force of a truce between Israel and Hamas on January 19 in the Palestinian territory devastated by 16 months of conflict, triggered by the attack on the Islamist movement on Israeli soil on October 7, 2023, the diplomatic tensions are lively in the post-war period.

Donald Trump’s recent announcement of a project to take control of Gaza by the United States and a displacement of its population to Egypt or Jordan has aroused a wave of convictions in the world and brought a blow to The already fragile ceasefire agreement.

While some Arab countries hostile to any forced displacement of Gazaouis try to coordinate to provide a common American answer, Mr. Netanyahu seemed to suggest on Thursday, in an interview, that a Palestinian State could be established on Saudi territory, arousing the anger of Ryad.

Meanwhile, in Gaza, Israel completed its withdrawal from the Netzarim corridor on Sunday, which cuts the territory from east to west, causing immense lines of Palestinians returning home to the north and south, aboard vehicles overloaded with luggage.

“Israeli forces have dismantled their military positions and positions (…) from the Netzarim corridor” allowing vehicles to circulate freely, an official of the Interior Ministry led by Hamas told AFP.

“Dangerous”

This corridor, established in December 2023, had been reopened at the end of January and had already allowed hundreds of thousands of displaced to return to the north of the territory.

In a district of Gaza-Ville (North), Mahmoud al-Sarhi discovered his destroyed house. But despite the withdrawal of Israeli troops, this 44 -year -old man does not feel safe.

“The area is unfit for normal life. It’s very dangerous, ”he said to AFP.

This reopening comes in the aftermath of a fifth exchange of Israeli hostages in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

According to a senior Hamas, Israel was to withdraw from the Netzarim corridor after the fifth exchange, under the terms of the first phase of six weeks of the truce agreement.

The attack on Hamas on October 7 led to the death of 1,210 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli data.

In total, 251 people were removed that day.

The Israeli offensive carried out in retaliation on the Gaza Strip left at least 48,181 dead, mostly civilians, according to data from the Ministry of Hamas, deemed reliable by the UN.

“Extraordinary results”

On Saturday, three Israeli hostages, very physically tested, was released during a new staging orchestrated by Hamas, in exchange for 183 Palestinians.

Benyamin Netanyahu denounced “shocking images”, once again promising to “eliminate” Hamas and bring back the hostages always retained to Gaza.

“The liberation of the hostages cannot be delayed,” said Alon Ohel, 23, said one of the hostages still retained in Gaza, after having received “a first sign of life” from him by the recently released caps .

Sixty-three hostages are still retained in Gaza, of which at least 34 died, according to the Israeli army.

Hamas for its part denounced what it described as “low -fire murder” of Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons after the hospitalization of seven of them.

In Washington, MM. Netanyahu and Trump, a longtime Allies, met this week to discuss the post-war period.

“President Trump came with a completely different and much better vision for Israel – a revolutionary and creative approach,” said Prime Minister on Sunday.

He assured that Donald Trump was “very determined to implement it” and that their interviews had led to “extraordinary results”.

Mr. Netanyahu had announced before these statements the sending of negotiators to Qatar, the main mediating country, to discuss the rest of the truce.

“Seeds”

A Hamas political official, Bassem Naïm, had told AFP on Saturday that Israel was “endangering” the ceasefire and that “could collapse”.

The civil defense also said that Israeli forces had shot down three civilians on Sunday in Gaza-Ville, the army saying that it had fired “warnings” on Palestinians who had approached its troops.

The second phase of the ceasefire is supposed to lead to the release of all hostages and to the final end of the war, before a final stage devoted to the reconstruction of Gaza.

Since the start of the truce, 16 Israeli hostages have been released, to which have been added five Thai (outside the agreement), in exchange for 765 Palestinian prisoners.

Egyptian diplomacy chief Badr Abdelatty left for Washington on Sunday, while the head of American diplomacy Marco Rubio is expected next week in the Middle East.