Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday praised a proposal from US President Donald Trump for US control of Gaza and the displacement of its population as “revolutionary,” striking a triumphant tone in a statement to his Cabinet following his return to Israel from Washington.
Trump set out a plan last week to move Gazans out of the territory to other nations in the region, while the US would take charge of redeveloping it, sparking a diplomatic backlash.
Meanwhile, in Gaza, Palestinians on Sunday were able to cross the Netzarim Corridor, a strategic zone cutting the narrow territory in two, after Israeli troops were said to have withdrawn.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“Israeli forces have dismantled their positions ... and completely withdrawn their tanks from the Netzarim Corridor on Salaheddin Road, allowing vehicles to pass freely in both directions,” an official from the Hamas-run ministry of interior said.
Journalists saw no troops in the area, as cars, buses, pickup trucks and donkey carts traveled north and south along the road.
Gaza resident Mahmoud al-Sarhi said “arriving at the Netzarim Corridor meant death until this morning.”
This is “the first time I saw our destroyed house,” he said of his home in the nearby Zeitun area. “The entire area is in ruins. I cannot live here.”
A senior Hamas official said the Israeli withdrawal from the Netzarim Corridor had been scheduled for Sunday under the terms of the truce that took effect on Jan. 19.
Gaza’s civil defense agency said Israeli forces had shot dead three civilians in Gaza City north of the Netzarim Corridor on Sunday. The military said it had fired “warning shots” and hit Palestinians who had approached troops.
Trump sparked global outrage by suggesting on Tuesday last week that the US should take control of the Gaza Strip and clear out its inhabitants.
Upon his return to Israel from the US, Netanyahu reiterated his support for the proposal during a Cabinet meeting.
“President Trump came with a completely different, much better vision for Israel — a revolutionary, creative approach that we are currently discussing,” the Israeli prime minister said.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Sunday became the latest world leaders to denounce Trump’s plan.
“No one has the power to remove the people of Gaza from their eternal homeland,” Erdogan told journalists at Istanbul airport before flying to Malaysia.
Scholz, speaking during a pre-election debate, described Trump’s plan as “a scandal.”
“The relocation of a population is unacceptable and against international law,” he said.
‘SHORTSIGHTED’: Using aid as leverage is punitive, would not be regarded well among Pacific Island nations and would further open the door for China, an academic said New Zealand has suspended millions of dollars in budget funding to the Cook Islands, it said yesterday, as the relationship between the two constitutionally linked countries continues to deteriorate amid the island group’s deepening ties with China. A spokesperson for New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters said in a statement that New Zealand early this month decided to suspend payment of NZ$18.2 million (US$11 million) in core sector support funding for this year and next year as it “relies on a high trust bilateral relationship.” New Zealand and Australia have become increasingly cautious about China’s growing presence in the Pacific
Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki yesterday erupted again with giant ash and smoke plumes after forcing evacuations of villages and flight cancelations, including to and from the resort island of Bali. Several eruptions sent ash up to 5km into the sky on Tuesday evening to yesterday afternoon. An eruption on Tuesday afternoon sent thick, gray clouds 10km into the sky that expanded into a mushroom-shaped ash cloud visible as much as 150km kilometers away. The eruption alert was raised on Tuesday to the highest level and the danger zone where people are recommended to leave was expanded to 8km from the crater. Officers also
The team behind the long-awaited Vera Rubin Observatory in Chile yesterday published their first images, revealing breathtaking views of star-forming regions as well as distant galaxies. More than two decades in the making, the giant US-funded telescope sits perched at the summit of Cerro Pachon in central Chile, where dark skies and dry air provide ideal conditions for observing the cosmos. One of the debut images is a composite of 678 exposures taken over just seven hours, capturing the Trifid Nebula and the Lagoon Nebula — both several thousand light-years from Earth — glowing in vivid pinks against orange-red backdrops. The new image
ESPIONAGE: The British government’s decision on the proposed embassy hinges on the security of underground data cables, a former diplomat has said A US intervention over China’s proposed new embassy in London has thrown a potential resolution “up in the air,” campaigners have said, amid concerns over the site’s proximity to a sensitive hub of critical communication cables. The furor over a new “super-embassy” on the edge of London’s financial district was reignited last week when the White House said it was “deeply concerned” over potential Chinese access to “the sensitive communications of one of our closest allies.” The Dutch parliament has also raised concerns about Beijing’s ideal location of Royal Mint Court, on the edge of the City of London, which has so
RSS