Trump ‘not confident’ Gaza hostage-ceasefire deal will hold through all 3 phases
US President Donald Trump said Monday that he’s “not confident” the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal that came into effect the previous day would be upheld through all three phases.
“It’s not our war. It is
their war. I am not confident,” Trump said in response to a question from
reporters while signing executive orders in the Oval Office, shortly after his
inauguration.
“But I think they’re very
weakened on the other side,” Trump said, apparently referring to Hamas.
Turning to Gaza, where
huge swaths of the Strip have been turned to rubble amid 15 months of fighting,
Trump said the enclave “is like a massive demolition site” that will have to be
“rebuilt in a different way.”
The real estate mogul
noted that Gaza is in a “phenomenal location” along the Mediterranean Sea with
the “best weather,” adding that “beautiful things could be done over there,
fantastic things.”
When asked if he’ll help
rebuild Gaza, the president responded: “I might.”
However, when questioned
as to who will govern Gaza after the war, Trump said it can’t be Hamas, since
“they didn’t exactly run it well” and “most of them are dead.”
Must Read: US
to support Israel destroying and killing every last member of Hamas after
securing the hostages
The ceasefire-hostage deal
between Israel and the Palestinian terror group came into effect Sunday
morning, bringing a halt to the war which began when Hamas-led terrorists
invaded southern Israel, killing over 1,200 people and kidnapping 251 hostages
during their October 7, 2023, onslaught.
Arab officials familiar with the negotiations believe that Trump’s pressure was critical in securing a breakthrough that led to the three-phase accord. However, relatives of many of those held hostage are concerned that the staged plan will only free some captives, with the others left at the mercy of future talks and the maintenance of the fragile truce.
Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised him that fighting will be renewed after the first phase ends.
Hamas terrorists hand over
hostages Doron Steinbrecher (center, in pink sweater), Emily Damari and Romi
Gonen, abducted during the October 7, 2023, massacre in southern Israel, to
members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), as part of a
ceasefire and a hostages-prisoners deal, in Gaza City, January 19, 2025
(Reuters)Speaking on Monday, Trump also reiterated his belief that Hamas wouldn’t have carried out the October 7 onslaught if he had been president at the time, because the terror group’s Iran backers had been “broke” due to his maximum pressure sanctions regime.
“Now they’re rich, but
weakened in a different way,” he said, highlighting an IDF operation that
reportedly took out Tehran’s air defenses and another that saw the mass
detonation of communication devices belonging to Hezbollah operatives in
Lebanon.
The newly inaugurated US
president, who is reportedly fixated on winning a Nobel Peace Prize, also said
that he thinks a normalization deal might be signed between Israel and Saudi
Arabia “soon,” if not by the end of the year.---(EDITED)
Credit: TOI
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