Donald Trump repeats pledge to take control of Gaza even as pressure mounts to renew ceasefire
Mughraqa (Gaza Strip) (AP): New details and growing shock over emaciated hostages renewed pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to extend a fragile Gaza ceasefire beyond the first phase, even as US President Donald Trump repeated his pledge that the US would take control of the Palestinian enclave.
Talks on the second phase, meant to see more hostages released and a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, were due to start on February 3. But Israel and Hamas appear to have made little progress, even as Israeli forces withdrew from a Gaza corridor on Sunday in the latest commitment to the truce.
Netanyahu sent a delegation to Qatar, a key mediator, but it included low-level officials, sparking speculation that it won't lead to a breakthrough. Netanyahu, who returned after a U.S. visit to meet with Trump, is expected to convene security Cabinet ministers on Tuesday.
Speaking on Sunday, Trump repeated his pledge to take control of the Gaza Strip.
“I'm committed to buying and owning 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. There's nothing to move back into. The place is a demolition site. The remainder will be demolished," he told reporters onboard Air Force One as he traveled to the Super Bowl.
Trump said Arab nations would agree to take in Palestinians after speaking with him and insisted Palestinians would leave Gaza if they had a choice.
“They don't want to return to Gaza. If we could give them a home in a safer area — the only reason they're talking about returning to Gaza is they don't have an alternative. When they have an alternative, they don't want to return to Gaza."
Israel has expressed openness to the idea of resettling Gaza's population — ”a revolutionary, creative vision,” Netanyahu told his Cabinet on Sunday — while Hamas, the Palestinians and much of the world have rejected it.
Egypt said it will host an emergency Arab summit on February 27 to discuss the "new and dangerous developments".
Trump's proposal has moral, legal and practical obstacles. It may have been proposed as a negotiation tactic to pressure Hamas or an opening gambit in discussions aimed at securing a normalization deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia condemned Netanyahu's recent comment that Palestinians could create their state there, saying it aimed to divert attention from crimes committed by “the Israeli occupation against our Palestinian brothers in Gaza, including the ethnic cleansing they are being subjected to.”
Qatar called Netanyahu's comment “provocative” and a blatant violation of international law.
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Shirtless protest: Court reserves order on Delhi Police plea for custody of arrested IYC workers
New Delhi (PTI): A Delhi court on Saturday reserved its order on police's plea seeking five-day custody of the four Indian Youth Congress (IYC) workers, who were arrested for protesting at the AI Impact Summit venue a day ago.
The arrested IYC workers were produced before Judicial Magistrate Ravi, who reserved the order after completion of arguments.
The arrested protesters were Krishna Hari, national secretary of Youth Congress from Bihar; Kundan Yadav, IYC state secretary, Bihar; Ajay Kumar, IYC state president, Uttar Pradesh; and Narasimha Yadav from Telangana.
Delhi Police sought five-day custody of the arrested protesters, arguing that they raised anti-national slogans and wore T-shirts with objectionable images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The counsel for the accused argued that they were associated with a political party, and had exercised their democratic right to peaceful protest at Bharat Mandapam.
He said there was no footage proving that they attacked police officers, nor any evidence that an anti-national speech was made.
The court is expected to pass its order shortly.
