Hamas Makes Gaunt Israeli Hostages Thank Captors Before Release
The scenes at the latest hostage release in Gaza angered Israelis and created even more uncertainty surrounding the next steps in a phased cease-fire deal.
The scenes at the latest hostage release in Gaza angered Israelis and created even more uncertainty surrounding the next steps in a phased cease-fire deal.
President Trump wants to broker normal ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel, but his proposal to transfer Palestinians out of Gaza just made that a lot harder.
Aides had sought to walk back the president’s proposal, which drew condemnations. Israel’s defense minister said its military would draft plans for Gazans who wished to leave.
Right-wing officials in Israel, evangelical Christians in the United States and Trump appointees have become increasingly outspoken in calling for Israel to take more territory.
President Trump’s proposal to “own” Gaza and transfer its population elsewhere has stirred condemnation and sarcasm, but it is an opening bid and could disrupt a tired diplomatic paradigm.
The president met with the Israeli prime minister at the White House, meeting in person with another world leader for the first time since returning to power.
President Trump’s suggestion was denounced in the Middle East, Washington and beyond.
Israel’s military said this week that its campaign targeting militants, which local Palestinians have called one of the most destructive in recent memory, was moving eastward.
In highly staged ceremonies, Hamas freed three people held captive over the last 15 months. Keeping to its part of the cease-fire deal, Israel released 183 Palestinians held in jails.
President Trump has suggested that Gazans should be evacuated from the devastated enclave and taken in by Jordan and Egypt.