Peloni: Regarding the US ownership of Gaza, it should be a joint venture between Israel and the US. Israel should not sell, barter, or in any way release ownership to the land of Gaza. This is Jewish land, and the connection between it and the Jewish people in the reconstitute state of Israel must not be denied.
President doubles down on proposal for US ownership of Gaza Strip
Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Speaking to a press gaggle on Air Force One, while en route to the Super Bowl, U.S. President Donald Trump remarked that the three Israeli hostages who returned on Saturday “looked like Holocaust survivors.”
“I watched the hostages come back today and they looked like Holocaust survivors. They were in horrible condition. They were emaciated. It looked like many years ago, the Holocaust survivors, and I don’t know how much longer we can take that,” Trump said, later warning that “at some point, we’re gonna lose our patience.”
“I know we have a deal we were supposed to get … they dribble in and keep dribbling in … but they are in really bad shape,” the president told reporters.
Ohad Ben Ami and Eli Sharabi, who were both taken hostage from Kibbutz Be’eri, and Or Levy, who was abducted from the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, were led by armed terrorists onto a stage erected by Hamas on Saturday ahead of their release to Israeli authorities. Many were shocked, as the three men appeared to be severely malnourished and pale. The men appeared in worse condition than the 18 hostages previously freed under the hostage release ceasefire deal.
“Hamas has been a disaster… I watched the hostages come back today. And they looked like Holocaust survivors, they were in horrible condition. They were emaciated… I don’t know how much longer we can take that.” –President Trump pic.twitter.com/Ku7gHaEjvk
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) February 9, 2025
Trump noted that the released hostages have been “treated brutally”, even those who returned in better physical condition.
“They have been treated brutally, horribly. Even the ones that came out earlier, they were in a little bit better shape, but mentally they were treated so badly. Who could take that?” the president asked. “You know, at some point, we’re gonna lose our patience.”
“When I see that scene, and I saw it today, with people coming out of helicopters and airplanes that are emaciated, that look like they haven’t had a meal in a month, there’s no reason for that,” Trump remarked. “I don’t know how much longer we can take it.”
Asked if he wanted to recast the terms of the deal, Trump answered, “I don’t know how long we can take it. When I watch people that were healthy people a reasonably short number of years ago, and you look at them today, they look like they’ve aged 25 years, they literally look like the old pictures of Holocaust survivors, the same thing,” the president stated. “And I don’t know how long we’re going to take that.”
On Saturday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement saying the “serious condition” of the hostages would be addressed.
“Due to the serious condition of the three hostages and the repeated violations by the Hamas terrorist organization, Prime Minister Netanyahu has instructed to not allow the situation to go unaddressed, and to take appropriate measures,” the statement by the Prime Minister’s Office said.
President Trump also reiterated his commitment to having the U.S. take ownership of Gaza after Palestinians voluntarily leave or are evacuated from the Strip.
The U.S. president shocked the world with the surprise announcement February 4 during Prime Minister Netanyahu’s visit to Washington. He again insisted that other countries may take part in rebuilding Gaza.
“As far as us rebuilding it, we may give it to other states in the Middle East to build sections of it, other people may do it, through our auspices. But we’re committed to owning it, taking it, and making sure that Hamas doesn’t move back,” Trump stated.
While the president’s proposal has met with repeated statements of rejection and resistance by Arab and European states, he continues to insist that there are nation’s willing to take in Palestinian evacuees and help rebuild the destroyed enclave.
President Trump is slated to meet with Jordanian King Abdullah II later this week, and with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi next week, ahead of an emergency Arab summit in Cairo on February 27 to discuss the crisis in Gaza and the president’t proposal.
Trump also told reporters that he will soon meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, but did not give a date for the meeting.
@Laura
This is Trump’s real strategy:
Just as I thought – another poisoned bait for Israel via a CON GAME but I would never be able to actually explain it the way the author of this article does.
@Laura
I quite agree, 200%.
Trump is the only world leader to have moral clarity on this issue.
The Israel government proved themselves to be complete assholes by agreeing to this infmous terrorists-for-hostages deal. Why release 30-40 extremely guilty terrorist thugs and gangsters for every one innocent hostage?
Let us considerable hypothetical similar situation. Let us imagine that criminal gang operating in the U.S., originating in Mexico or El Salvador or somewhere, were to seize several hundred innocent Americans as hostages, and then demanded that the U.S. and state governments release oall of their fellow gang members, and thousands of other gangsters and terrorists, in return return for their releasing their hostages. Would the American people agree to let their government agree to this “deal?” Or would they demand that Congress impeach all of the u.S. officials who agreed to it, and that all of the state and municipal official who agreed to it be impeached and removed from office? If anything like this ever happened in the u.S. I think that is how the American people would react, and I think that all of the public officials who agreed to such a deal would be quicky removed from office.
Unfortunately, this is not the case in Israel, where such an infamous :deal” is actually being carried out.
I agree with everything all Israel News staff says here.
Any Trump plan or other plan in Gaza is predicated on removing Hamas, which in spite of losing approximatedly 20,000 of its terrorist fighters and most of leadership is still in charge of Gaza, in all areas the IDF has vacated.
So to allow Gazans to leave or any rebuilding to occur first Hamas must be furthered attacked and destroyed. This will mean months more of war.
If Israel does this why would it allow the USA to have it. Trump in charge it might be fine but in 4 years so idiot Democrat might be in charge who will give it to the PLO. Israel must control Gaza.
American’s will never have the appetite for staying in Gaza. Great that Trump opened the door for Gazan’s emigration and Israel after destroying Hamas should make that a reality. It should create an NGO to facilitate finding homes for Gazans and donors to financially assist. Be it places in Africa or elsewhere. Jordan and Egypt have severe complications as locations for the Gazans, as they would be right on Israel’s border and could attack Israel at some later date. Greenland anyone and Somaliland.
While Trump is telling the world that he wants the Gaza Strip, Arab-rein, in contrast with Judenrein, Bibi is telling a different story or rather, he is not telling us anything except that he has a solution to the problem of emaciated hostages being returned, reportedly not only malnourished but also with heart problems and more.
Both of these statesmen may have good intentions for Israel – that is not yet clear or obvious. From other stories being told on the news, the Biden administration was (now) proven to have worked very hard to disrupt life in Israel. The real depths of this treachery is yet to be fathomed, but it seems very likely that the revolution on Israeli streets against the judicial reform was financed by the Biden deep state through USAID. The influence the deep state and probably other actors had on the “intelligence” agencies leading up to October 7, 2023 in Israel is also thoroughly seeped in treachery.
While USA has a lot to answer to, so has the Israeli government. I still find it difficult to understand that all those high IQ Israeli politicians (with harosh hayehudi) were unable to sit down together and reach reasonable solutions to building a government. The Israeli Supreme Court likely has the most to answer to, but they will all have to be arrested and replaced before any substantial progress can be made. As long as they have the power to strike down anything that displeases them, Israel will not be a state among the nations (such as they are).
As shown in the past, the US deep state used the Supreme Court (Bagatz) as a back door to control (beyond influence) the Israeli government and THAT HAS TO STOP.