President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday that he was not confident that all three phases of the cease-fire agreement between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas would hold.
“This is not our war. It's their war. I'm not confident. But I think they're very weakened on the other side,” he said in the Oval Office during his first hours in office. He said this in response to questions while signing the order.
Asked about the future governance of the Gaza Strip, the president said he believed it was “absolutely impossible to keep the people who were there before,” apparently referring to the Iranian-backed terrorist group Hamas. .
“By the way, most of them are dead, right?” Trump continued. “But they haven't been able to run it very well. They run it viciously and viciously. That's not possible.”
Gaza must be rebuilt “in a different way,” he continued.
“I saw pictures of Gaza. Gaza is like a site of massive destruction. That place really needs to be rebuilt in a different way,” he said. “It's a great location. Great weather on the water. You know, everything's going great. I feel like we could do something great with it.”
On Sunday, three Israeli women held hostage in the October 7, 2023 massacre and held captive in Gaza for 471 days were released as part of the first phase of a US-brokered agreement with Hamas.
President Trump on Sunday praised the deal as a “first step toward lasting peace in the Middle East” and credited his incoming Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, with pushing it forward.
“Our incoming administration accomplished all this in the Middle East in less than three months without becoming president. We accomplished a lot,” President Trump said at a pre-inauguration rally in Washington, D.C.
Over the weekend, President Trump warned in an interview with NBC that the ceasefire with Hamas in the Gaza Strip “better stick” or “hell will begin.”
President Trump told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “Keep doing what you have to do. This has to end. We want this to end, but we want to keep doing what we have to do.” ”
Jerusalem announced that 25 of the 33 hostages on the list to be returned in the first phase are alive. Ninety-four hostages are still being held in Gaza, and at least a third of them are believed to have died.
The second phase of consultation will begin 16 days after implementation. The first stage will take 42 days. The Gaza deal is expected to end with the release of all remaining hostages, a permanent ceasefire, and a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces.
Witkoff acknowledged in an interview with Israel's Channel 12 News on Monday that he may visit the Gaza Strip to maintain the ceasefire.
“I think implementing the agreement has been difficult. What will probably be more difficult is implementing the agreement,” Witkoff said. “So going to the Gaza Strip is about making sure that what we're trying to do here, on the Netzarim Line and the Philadelphia Corridor, is done the right way.”
The Middle East envoy acknowledged that the deal pursued by the incoming administration would be similar to the one proposed by former President Joe Biden in May 2024. “We're following that almost exactly,” he told Channel 12 News. “When we entered into negotiations, we were acting on that agreement.”
“We needed to create incentives for both sides to move forward and reach an agreement,” the presidential envoy said. Asked to elaborate on the incentives the United States might offer for Jerusalem to support the deal, Witkoff said, “The incentive was to bring these people home.”
Moussa Abu Marzouk, a senior Hamas terrorist, told the New York Times on Sunday that the Islamist group is ready for “dialogue” and “reaching understanding on everything” after Trump takes office. Ta.
Marzouk said Hamas was ready to welcome Witkov to the coastal enclave, and vowed that the U.S.-designated terrorist organization would also provide protection to representatives of the Trump administration.
“The president can come to the people and try to understand their feelings and wishes, so that America's position is based on the interests of all parties, not just one party. “I guess so,” Marzouk said.
