Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday (February 16) signalled that he was moving ahead with US President Donald Trump's proposal to transfer the Palestinian population out of Gaza, calling it "the only viable plan to enable a different future" for the region.
Netanyahu discussed the plan with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who kicked off a Middle East visit by endorsing Israel's war aims in Gaza, saying Hamas "must be eradicated." That created further doubt around the shaky ceasefire as talks on its second phase are yet to begin.
Rubio, in his upcoming stops in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, is likely to face more pushback from Arab leaders over Trump's proposal, which includes redeveloping Gaza under US ownership. Netanyahu has said all emigration from Gaza should be "voluntary," but rights groups and other critics say that the plan amounts to coercion given the territory's vast destruction.
Netanyahu said he and Trump have a "common strategy" for Gaza. Echoing Trump, he said "the gates of hell would be open" if Hamas doesn't release dozens of remaining hostages abducted in the militant group's attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which triggered the 16-month war.
The ceasefire's first phase ends in two weeks. Negotiations were meant to begin two weeks ago on the second phase, in which Hamas would release dozens of remaining hostages in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting truce and the withdrawal of Israeli forces
Trump's special Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, told Fox News that "phase two is absolutely going to begin" and he had "very productive" calls Sunday with Netanyahu and officials from Egypt and Qatar, which serve as mediators, about continuing talks this week. He also said hostages to be released include 19 Israeli soldiers and "we believe all of them are alive."
Netanyahu's office said Israel's security Cabinet would meet Monday to discuss the second phase.
Trump later told journalists it is "up to Israel what the next step is, in consultation with me."
In another sign of closing ranks, Israel's Defense Ministry said it received a shipment of 2,000-pound (900-kilogram) MK-84 munitions from the United States. The Biden administration paused a shipment of such bombs last year over concerns about civilian casualties in Gaza.
RESUMING THE WAR COULD DOOM HOSTAGES
This week marks 500 days of the war. Netanyahu has signaled readiness to resume the fighting after the ceasefire's current phase, though it could be a death sentence for remaining hostages.
Rubio said peace becomes impossible as long as Hamas "stands as a force that can govern or as a force that can administer or as a force that can threaten by use of violence," adding, "It must be eradicated."
Hamas reasserted control over Gaza when the ceasefire began last month, despite suffering heavy losses.
Netanyahu has offered Hamas a chance to surrender and send top leaders into exile. Hamas has rejected that scenario and insists on Palestinian rule. Spokesman Abdul Latif al-Qanou told The Associated Press the group accepts a Palestinian unity government or a technocratic committee to run Gaza.
Netanyahu instructed negotiators to leave for Cairo on Monday to discuss further implementation of the ceasefire's first phase, as issues over delivery of shelter materials continue.
The Israeli military, meanwhile, said it carried out an airstrike on people who approached forces in southern Gaza. The Hamas-run Interior Ministry said it killed three of its police officers while they secured the entry of aid trucks near Rafah on the Egyptian border.
'IF SOMEONE HAS A BETTER PLAN... THAT'S GREAT'
In an interview last week, Rubio indicated that Trump's Gaza proposal was in part aimed at pressuring Arab states to make their own postwar plan that would be acceptable to Israel.
Rubio also appeared to suggest that Arab countries send troops to combat Hamas.
"If the Arab countries have a better plan, then that's great," Rubio said Thursday on the "Clay and Buck Show."
But "Hamas has guns," he added. "Someone has to confront those guys. It's not going to be American soldiers. And if the countries in the region can't figure that piece out, then Israel is going to have to do it."
Rubio wasn't scheduled to meet with Palestinians on his trip.
ARABS HAVE LIMITED OPTIONS
For Arab leaders, facilitating the mass expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza or battling Palestinian militants on behalf of Israel are nightmare scenarios that would bring fierce domestic criticism and potentially destabilize an already volatile region.
Egypt hosts an Arab summit on February 27 and is working with other countries on a counterproposal that would allow for Gaza's rebuilding without removing its population. Human rights groups say the expulsion of Palestinians would likely violate international law.
Egypt has warned that any mass influx of Palestinians from Gaza would undermine its nearly half-century peace treaty with Israel, a cornerstone of US influence in the region.
The UAE and Saudi Arabia also have rejected any mass displacement of Palestinians.
The UAE was the driving force behind the 2020 Abraham Accords in which four Arab states — Bahrain, the UAE, Morocco and Sudan — normalized relations with Israel during Trump's previous term. Trump hopes to expand the accords to include Saudi Arabia, potentially offering closer US defense ties, but the kingdom has said it won't normalize relations with Israel without a pathway to a Palestinian state.
Rubio won't be visiting Egypt or Jordan, close US allies at peace with Israel that have refused to accept any influx of Palestinian refugees. Trump has suggested he might slash US aid if they don't comply, which could be devastating for their economies.
Rubio is also skipping Qatar.
Arab and Muslim countries have conditioned any support for postwar Gaza on a return to Palestinian governance with a pathway to statehood in Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories that Israel seized in the 1967 Mideast war.
Israel has ruled out a Palestinian state and any role in Gaza for the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, whose forces were driven out when Hamas seized power there in 2007.
Bd-Pratidin English/ARK
