JERUSALEM – Speaking to the Knesset plenum about phase 2 of the Gaza peace plan, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Monday that Turkish and Qatari soldiers “will not be in the Strip.” However, Turkey and Qatar will sit on the influential Gaza Executive Board, the White House announced over the weekend.
“We have a certain argument with our friends in the US on the makeup of the council of advisers that will accompany the processes in Gaza,” he said, likely referring to the Executive Board. Netanyahu said that he is willing to stand up to the US when there are disagreements over core issues. He stressed that occasional disagreements don’t hurt ties with US President Donald Trump, “our greatest friend in the White House.”
Netanyahu said the IDF is currently holding on to 52 percent of Gaza from a “position of strength.” “What is phase 2?” he asks rhetorically. “Phase 2 says something simple — Hamas will be disarmed, and Gaza will be demilitarized.”
“We are sticking to those goals, and they will be achieved,” he pledges, “either the easy way, or the hard way.” He said that no one needs to remind him of the importance of bringing back the body of Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, the last slain hostage in Gaza. “He remains at the top of our priorities, and the less we talk about it, the better.” Israel is “following closely” developments in Iran, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says in the Knesset. He praised the “heroic struggle” of the Iranian people against the regime. Netanyahu says that those who refer to him as a dictator should be embarrassed to use that term, given the slaughter Iran’s rulers are inflicting on their people. “If Iran makes a mistake and attacks us, we will act with strength that Iran hasn’t yet known,” he promises.
France “does not intend to answer favorably” to an invitation to join US President Donald Trump’s Gaza “Board of Peace,” a source close to President Emmanuel Macron tells AFP. The board’s charter “goes beyond the sole framework of Gaza,” the source says, adding “it raises major questions, particularly regarding respect for the principles and structure of the United Nations, which under no circumstances can be called into question.” Canada will not pay to be on US President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace,” a government source tells AFP, after Prime Minister Mark Carney indicated he would accept an invitation to join the body.
Canada will not pay for a seat on the board, nor has that been requested of Canada at this time,” the government source says, referring to Trump’s demand that countries pay $1 billion for a permanent spot following an initial three-year term on the board, which was initially conceived to oversee the rebuilding of Gaza.
