Netanyahu says Israel intends to take control of all of Gaza but does not want to "keep" or govern it
In an interview with Fox News, Netanyahu was asked if Israel "will take control of all of Gaza."
"We intend to, in order to assure our security, remove Hamas there, enable the population to be free of Gaza, and to pass it to civilian governance that is not Hamas and not anyone advocating the destruction of Israel," Netanyahu said.
"We don't want to keep" Gaza, he added. "We want to have a security perimeter. We don't want to govern it. We don't want to be there as a governing body. We want to hand it over to Arab forces that will govern it properly without threatening us, and giving Gazans a good life."
Later on Thursday, Netanyahu was expected to discuss plans with senior ministers for the Israeli military to take control of more Gaza territory. Israel's Security Cabinet would need to approve the plan.
An expansion of Israeli military operations in Gaza would draw strong international opposition and could further isolate Israel, which is being urged by close allies to end the war amid the growing concerns from humanitarian agencies about famine taking hold in the territory.
Negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas broke down in recent weeks, with each side accusing the other of being responsible for the failure.
"I think the negotiations have broken down completely because Hamas is not serious about negotiating," U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said in an interview with CBS News on Thursday. "I'm not sure they ever were, but they certainly aren't anymore. Europe has given them some cover. When European leaders are putting more pressure on Israel than they are Hamas — and they're talking about people in Gaza, and they're not talking about the hostages — Hamas is celebrating, and they're realizing that, you know, they're winning the message war here."
Huckabee said any decision to annex the Gaza Strip will be up to the Israeli government.
"It's not our job to tell them what they should or should not do," Huckabee said. "Certainly, if they ask for wisdom, counsel, advice, I'm sure the president would offer it. But ultimately, it's the decision that the Israelis and only the Israelis can make."
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Los Angeles Times
19 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Trump, casting himself as ‘peacemaker-in-chief,' faces tests in Gaza and Ukraine
WASHINGTON — After styling himself for decades as a dealmaker, President Trump is showing some receipts in his second term of ceasefires and peace agreements brokered on his watch. But the president faces extraordinary challenges in his latest push to negotiate ends to the world's two bloodiest conflicts. Stakes could not be higher in Ukraine, where nearly a million Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded in pursuit of Vladimir Putin's war of conquest, according to independent analysts. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers add to the catastrophic casualty toll. Trump's struggle to get both sides to a negotiating table, let alone to secure a ceasefire, has grown into a fixation for Trump, prompting rare rebukes of Putin from the U.S. president. And in the Gaza Strip, an alliance that has withstood scathing international criticism over Israel's conduct of its war against Hamas has begun to show strain. Trump still supports the fundamental mission of Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to destroy the militant group and secure the release of Israeli hostages in its possession. But mounting evidence of mass starvation in Gaza has begun to fray the relationship, reportedly resulting in a shouting match in their most recent call. Breakthroughs in the two conflicts have evaded Trump, despite his efforts to fashion himself into the 'peacemaker-in-chief' and floating his own nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize. In Turnberry, Scotland, last month, Trump claimed that six wars had been stopped or thwarted under his watch since he returned to office in January. 'I'm averaging about a war a month,' he said at the time. He has, in fact, secured a string of tangible successes on the international stage, overseeing a peace agreement between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda; hosting a peace ceremony between Armenia and Azerbeijan; brokering a ceasefire between Cambodia and Thailand, and imposing an end to a 12-day war between Israel and Iran after engaging U.S. forces directly in the conflict. 'As president, my highest aspiration is to bring peace and stability to the world,' Trump said at the ceremony with Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders Friday. 'We've only been here for six months. The world was on fire. We took care of just about every fire — and we're working on another one,' he said, 'with Russia, Ukraine.' Trump also takes credit for lowering tensions between Serbia and Kosovo, and for brokering a ceasefire between two nuclear states, India and Pakistan, a claim the latter supports but the former denies. 'Wars usually last five to 10 years,' said Michael E. O'Hanlon, chair in defense and strategy at the Brookings Institution. 'Trump is tactically clever, but no magician. If he actually gets three of these five conflicts to end, that's an incredible track record. 'In each case, he may exaggerate his own role,' O'Hanlon said, but 'that's OK — I welcome the effort and contribution, even if others deserve credit, too.' Well past his campaign promise of ending Russia's war with Ukraine 'within 24 hours' of taking office, Trump has tried pressuring both sides to come to the negotiating table, starting with the Ukrainians. 'You don't have the cards,' Trump told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in an infamous Oval Office meeting in February, chastising him to prepare to make painful concessions to end the war. But in June, at a NATO summit in the Netherlands, Trump's years-long geniality with Putin underwent a shift. He began criticizing Russia's leader as responsible for the ongoing conflict, accusing Putin of throwing 'meaningless ... bull—' at him and his team. 'I'm not happy with Putin, I can tell you that much right now,' Trump said, approving new weapons for Ukraine, a remarkable policy shift long advocated by the Europeans. The Trump administration set Friday as a deadline for Putin to demonstrate his commitment to a ceasefire, or otherwise face a new round of crushing secondary sanctions — financial tools that would punish Russia's trading partners for continuing business with Moscow. Those plans were put on hold after Trump announced he would meet with Putin in Alaska next week, a high-stakes meeting that will exclude Zelensky. 'The highly anticipated meeting between myself, as President of the United States of America, and President Vladimir Putin, of Russia, will take place next Friday, August 15, 2025, in the Great State of Alaska. Further details to follow,' Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social, on Friday. 'Thank you for your attention to this matter!' Meeting Putin one-on-one — the first meeting between a U.S. and Russian president in four years, and the first between Putin and any Western leader since he launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 — in and of itself could be seen as a reward for a Russian leader seeking to regain international legitimacy, experts said. Worse still, Putin, a former KGB officer, could approach the meeting as an opportunity to manipulate the American president. 'Putin has refused to abandon his ultimate objectives in Ukraine — he is determined to supplant the Zelensky government in Kyiv with a pro-Russian regime,' said Kyle Balzer, a scholar at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. 'He wants ironclad guarantees that Ukraine will never gain admittance to NATO. So there is currently no agreement to be had with Russia, except agreeing to surrender to Putin's demands. Neither Ukraine nor Europe are interested in doing so. 'Put simply, Putin likely believes that he can wear down the current administration,' Balzer added. 'Threatening Russia with punitive acts like sanctions, and then pulling back when the time comes to do so, has only emboldened Putin to strive for ultimate victory in Ukraine.' A European official told The Times that, while the U.S. government had pushed for Zelensky to join the initial meeting, a response from Kyiv — noting that any territorial concession to Russia in negotiations would have to be approved in a ballot referendum by the Ukrainian people — scuttled the initial plan. The Trump administration is prepared to endorse the bulk of Russia's occupation of Ukrainian territory, including the eastern region of Donbas and the Crimean peninsula, at the upcoming summit, Bloomberg reported. On Friday, Trump called the issue of territory 'complicated.' 'We're gonna get some back,' he said. 'There will be some swapping of territories.' Michael Williams, an international relations professor at Syracuse University, said that Trump has advocated for a ceasefire in Ukraine 'at the expense of other strategic priorities such as stability in Europe and punishment of Russia through increased aid to Ukraine.' Such an approach, Williams said, 'would perhaps force the Kremlin to end the war, and further afield, would signal to other potential aggressors, such as China, that violations of international law will be met with a painful response.' At Friday's peace ceremony, Trump told reporters he was considering a proposal to relocate Palestinian refugees to Somalia and its breakaway region, Somaliland, once Israel ends hostilities against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. 'We are working on that right now,' Trump said. It was just the latest instance of Trump floating the resettlement of Palestinians displaced during the two-year war there, which has destroyed more than 90% of the structures throughout the strip and essentially displaced its entire population of 2 million people. The Hamas-run Health Ministry reports that more than 60,000 civilians and militants have died in the conflict. Hamas, recognized as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and others, has refused to concede the war, stating it would disarm only once a Palestinian state is established. The group continues to hold roughly 50 Israeli hostages, some dead and some alive, among 251 taken during its attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which also killed about 1,200 people. Israel's Cabinet voted this week to approve a plan to take over Gaza City in the north of the strip and, eventually, the rest of the territory, a deeply unpopular strategy in the Israeli military and among the Israeli public. Netanyahu on Friday rejected the notion that Israel planned to permanently occupy Gaza. Despite applying private pressure on Netanyahu, Trump's strategy has largely fallen in line with that of his predecessor, Joe Biden, whose team supported Israel's right to defend itself while working toward a peace deal that, at its core, would exchange the remaining hostages for a cessation of hostilities. The talks have stalled, one U.S. official said, primarily blaming Hamas over its demands. 'In Gaza, there is a fundamental structural imbalance of dealing with a terrorist organization that may be immune to traditional forms of pressure — military, economic or otherwise — and that may even have a warped, perverse set of priorities in which the suffering of its own people is viewed as a political asset because it tarnishes the reputation of the other party, Israel,' said Robert Satloff, executive director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. 'So Trump really only has leverage over one party — his ally, Israel — which he has been reluctant to wield, reasonably so.' In Ukraine, too, Trump holds leverage he has been unwilling, thus far, to bring to bear. 'There, Trump has leverage over both parties but appears reluctant to wield it on one of them — Russia,' Satloff said. But Trump suggested Friday that threatened sanctions on India over its purchase of Russian oil, and his agreement with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to secure greater security spending from European members, 'had an impact' on Moscow's negotiating position. 'I think my instinct really tells me that we have a shot at it,' Trump said. 'I think we're getting very close.'
CBS News
20 minutes ago
- CBS News
U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff to meet with Qatari prime minister in Spain over Gaza
U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff is meeting with the Qatari prime minister in Spain on Saturday to discuss a new proposal to end the war in Gaza and the entry of aid into the territory, a Qatari official and source familiar with the meeting told CBS News. According to the sources, the main aim is a discussion of making "workable" a new joint Egyptian-Qatari proposal on the return of the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. Two Arab officials told the Associated Press that the new ceasefire framework would include the release of all hostages — dead and live — all at once in return for the war's end and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. Of the 251 hostages who were abducted by Hamas-led terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023, 50 remain, of which 20 are believed to be alive in Gaza. The rest were released or returned during previous temporary ceasefire deals. A week ago, Witkoff visited an aid distribution site in southern Gaza that is privately run by the U.S. and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. He also met with the families of Israeli hostages in Tel Aviv. During that meeting, Witkoff offered other ways to free the hostages and make Gaza safe, the Hostages of Missing Families Forum said. "We will get your children home and hold Hamas responsible for any bad acts on their part. We will do what's right for the Gazan people," Witkoff said in the meeting, according to the Forum. The meeting in Spain comes as there is growing international condemnation of Israel's decision for a military takeover of Gaza City, while little appears to have changed immediately on the ground. On Friday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel's Security Cabinet had approved a plan for the Israeli military to take over Gaza City. In a statement, Netanyahu's office said the Israel Defense Forces would prepare to take over Gaza City while providing humanitarian aid to the civilian population outside of combat zones. Israel's military chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, has reportedly warned that expanding operations would endanger the remaining living hostages held by Hamas and further strain Israel's army after nearly two years of regional wars. On Saturday, a joint statement by nine countries, including Germany, Britain, France and Canada, said that they "strongly reject" Israel's decision for the large-scale military operation, saying it will worsen the "catastrophic humanitarian situation," endanger hostages and further risk mass displacement. They said any attempts at annexation or settlement in Gaza violate international law. A separate statement by more than 20 countries, including ceasefire mediators Egypt and Qatar, along with Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, called Israel's decision a "dangerous and unacceptable escalation." Meanwhile, Russia said Israel's plan will aggravate the "already extremely dramatic situation" in Gaza. The U.N. Security Council planned an emergency meeting on Sunday. And Germany has said it won't authorize any exports of military equipment to Israel that could be used in Gaza until further notice. Meanwhile, some families of hostages were rallying to pressure the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu amid new fears over the hostages. "The living will be murdered and the fallen will be lost forever" if the offensive goes ahead, said Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is held in Gaza. She called on Israelis, including the powerful Histadrut labor union, to "help us save the hostages, the soldiers and the state of Israel" and appeared to call for a general strike: "Shut the country down." Officials at Nasser and Awda hospitals said that Israeli forces killed at least 11 people seeking aid in southern and central Gaza. Some had been waiting for aid trucks, while others had been approaching aid distribution points. Israel's military denied opening fire and said that it was unaware of the incidents. The military secures routes leading to distribution sites run by the Israeli-backed and U.S.-supported Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Two witnesses told the AP that Israeli troops fired toward crowds approaching a GHF distribution site on foot in the Netzarim corridor, a military zone that bisects Gaza. One witness, Ramadan Gaber, said that snipers and tanks fired on aid-seekers, forcing them to retreat. Israel's military said that at least 106 packages of aid were airdropped Saturday as Italy and Greece joined the multicountry effort for the first time. Footage from Italy's defense ministry showed not only packages being parachuted over Gaza but the dry and devastated landscape below. Israel alleges, without giving evidence, that Hamas systematically diverts aid from the existing U.N.-led system, which denies it. That system has called for more of the trucks waiting outside Gaza to be allowed not just into the territory, but safely to destinations inside it for distribution. More than 61,300 Palestinians have died in the war, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, which doesn't distinguish between fighters or civilians. The U.N. and independent experts consider it the most reliable source on war Brennan contributed to this report.
Time Magazine
an hour ago
- Time Magazine
Hundreds Arrested At Protest in Defiance of Anti-Terror Law
Police in London arrested at least 365 protesters on Saturday who defied an anti-terror law by holding placards expressing support for a recently banned pro-Palestinian group. Hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the British Parliament to hold signs reading "I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action," in what they said was a protest for freedom of expression. By doing so, the protesters violated a law passed by the British Parliament in early July that classified Palestine Action as a terror organization and made it illegal for anyone to publicly show support for it. The legislation was passed in response to an incident in which activists from the group broke into a Royal Air Force base and vandalized two tanker aircraft in protest against the United Kingdom's support for Israel, and against Israel's ongoing war in Gaza. "Within this crowd a significant number of people are displaying placards expressing support for Palestine Action, which is a proscribed group," the Metropolitan Police Service said on X. "Officers have moved in and are making arrests." Police later said they had arrested 365 people for 'supporting a proscribed organization.' Membership of, or support for, Palestine Action is a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison under the Terrorism Act 2000. Saturday's demonstration was organized by a group called Defend Our Juries, which called for people to attend the protest with signs expressing support for Palestine Action in a demonstration of civil disobedience. "Once the meaning of 'terrorism' is separated from campaigns of violence against a civilian population, and extended to include those causing economic damage or embarrassment to the rich, the powerful and the criminal, then the right to freedom of expression has no meaning and democracy is dead," the group said on its website. Rights group Amnesty International described the arrests as 'deeply concerning.' It has previously criticized the law as 'excessively broad and vaguely worded and a threat to freedom of expression.' What is Palestine Action? Palestine Action was established in 2020 and claims to take 'aim at the infrastructure that sustains the Israeli occupation,' according to co-founder Huda Ammori. The group has frequently targeted Elbit Systems, an Israel-based defense contractor that earlier this year signed a contract with the Israeli government worth $275 million. Palestine Action staged break-ins at Elbit sites across the U.K. last year in the city of Bristol, and at a factory in the county of Kent, where around £1 million ($1.33 million) worth of property was reportedly destroyed. The group was proscribed as a terrorist group under the 2000 Terrorism Act by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper on July 5, after members of the group broke into a Royal Air Force base in Oxfordshire on June 20, spray painting two Voyager jets and damaging them with crowbars. The British Government said that the group 'has orchestrated a nationwide campaign of direct criminal action against businesses and institutions' and that it 'prepares for, promotes, and encourages terrorism.' 'Proscription will enable law enforcement to effectively disrupt Palestine Action,' the government order read, meaning that support for the group is now deemed a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison. Palestine Action was proscribed alongside two groups described as 'white-supremacist' movements, the Maniacs Murder Cult and the Russian Imperial Movement. The Israel-Hamas war was triggered after Hamas launched a terror attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing over 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages. Over 61,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. In the absence of independent monitoring on the ground, the ministry is the primary source for casualty data relied upon by humanitarian groups, journalists, and international bodies. Its figures do not differentiate between civilians and combatants and cannot be independently verified by TIME. The humanitarian toll in Gaza continues to rise, after a U.N.-backed food security body warned last week that the 'worst case famine scenario' is unfolding. 'Mounting evidence shows that widespread starvation, malnutrition, and disease are driving a rise in hunger-related deaths,' the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) reported on July 29. At least 197 people have now died from mass hunger, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. — Additional reporting by Callum Sutherland
