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ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER Benjamin Netanyahu has once again praised a proposal from Donald Trump for the US to take control of Gaza and displace its population, calling it “revolutionary”.
Following his return to Israel from Washington, Netanyahu said in an address to his cabinet that the two allies agreed on “ensuring Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel… President Trump came with a completely different, much better vision for Israel – a revolutionary, creative approach”.
He added that Trump was “very determined to implement it” and that the visit to Washington had secured “tremendous achievements”.
Trump proposed earlier this week that the US would “take over” the devastated Palestinian territory and move its inhabitants to other place, offering Jordan and Egypt as possible destinations. Both countries have flatly rejected the idea.
Trump’s shock announcement has endangered an already tenuous ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas that has seen five rounds of captive exchanges in recent weeks.
The Israeli Prime Minister, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for his prosecution of the war on the Gaza Strip, had initially described Trump’s plan to ethnically cleanse the Gaza Strip as “remarkable”.
The Trump Administration this week announced sanctions against the ICC, to which neither the US nor Israel is a signatory.
Many other countries, including allies of the United States, denounced Trump’s proposal.
There were also fresh calls from opposition parties in Ireland for Taoiseach Micheál Martin to cancel the annual visit to the White House.
Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz has said he instructed the army to begin planning for the “voluntary” mass displacement of Palestinians from Gaza. Katz also said that countries like Ireland, Spain and Norway, who have been critical of Israel’s war strategy, should take them in.
International humanitarian law experts told The Journal this week that cooperating in that project could risk complicity in the war crime of forced displacement, but they also said that if Palestinians did arrive in Ireland, they should be granted asylum.
Meanwhile, today in Gaza, Israeli troops withdrew from the key road that bisects the Gaza Strip as occupation forces carried out more raids in the West Bank, shooting dead a pregnant woman.
With reporting from AFP
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