Ceasefire or Expulsion of Gazans?

The second phase of ceasefire negotiations in the Gaza Strip began on Tuesday (4/2/2025). Instead of urging Israel to negotiate with Hamas regarding the implementation of the second phase of the ceasefire, United States President Donald Trump put forward another surprising idea.

He put forward a proposal containing the desire of the United States (US) to take control of the Gaza Strip after the Palestinian residents in the enclave are relocated to Egypt and Jordan as well as other countries. After taking control of Gaza, according to Trump's plan, the US would develop the area and transform it into the "Riviera of the Middle East."

After previously stating that it was not out of the question to deploy US troops to Gaza, Trump on Thursday (6/2/2025) said that US military operations in Gaza would not be necessary because the US would receive the territory from Israel after the war ends.

"Gaza Strip will be handed over to the US by Israel after the fighting ends," said Trump on Truth Social, Thursday (6/2/2025). "Palestinians will be relocated to much safer and more beautiful communities with new and modern homes in the region," he added.

This was conveyed by Trump after receiving worldwide criticism the previous day for proposing the development of the Gaza Strip as an elite luxury residential area on the coast. This idea was presented during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, Washington DC, on Tuesday (4/2/2025).

Responding to Trump's proposal, Israel stated that it is ready to assist Palestinians who wish to leave their homeland, Gaza. Netanyahu called Trump's idea brilliant. Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister, Israel Katz, is preparing Israeli soldiers to support the needs of Palestinians who want to leave their lives in Gaza.

"I welcome President Trump's bold plan. The residents of Gaza must be allowed to freely leave and migrate as is the common norm in the world," said Katz through social media X.

He added that Israel is preparing plans for Gaza residents to exit via land routes and emergency plans via sea and air. Trump's proposal, which was immediately welcomed by Israel, sparked anger in the Middle East.

In fact, on Tuesday (4/2/2025), Hamas Spokesperson Abdel Latif al-Qanoua said that his party had started the second phase of ceasefire negotiations in Doha, Qatar. The negotiations were supposed to discuss the implementation of the release of the remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza in exchange for the release of Palestinian fighters from Israeli prisons and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip.

The region's most influential country, Saudi Arabia, has flatly rejected the proposal. On Wednesday (2/5/2025), Jordan's King Abdullah II, who will meet Trump next week, rejected the plan to annex and relocate Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. Egypt also responded immediately and stated that it would not be involved in efforts to relocate Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.

Palestinians also do not want to move an inch from their land in Gaza. “We will not sell our land to you, O Property Entrepreneur. "We are hungry, homeless and desperate, but will not betray our land," said Abde Ghani, a father of four now living in the ruins of his house in Gaza City.

Trump's controversial idea makes the fate of the second phase of ceasefire talks even more uncertain. Trump's statement further fuels the right-wing in Israel to reignite the flames of war in Gaza.

In an Israeli survey titled “Reserve Forces Until Victory” of 700 Israeli Jews in January 2024, 92 percent of respondents supported an all-out war against Hamas. 87 percent supported a war against Hamas and control of the Gaza Strip. Only 7 percent of respondents rejected the idea.

The majority of Israeli political parties also reject the return of the Palestinian Authority to power in the Gaza Strip. The rejection is mainly from the Likud, National Unity and Yesh Atid parties.

In addition, 71 percent support mass emigration of Gazans out of the Gaza Strip. Only 17 percent reject the idea.

The Times of Israel on Sunday (2/2/2025) reported that various media indicated that PM Netanyahu is still open to the option of continuing the war in early March 2025 after the first phase of the ceasefire ends. This is in accordance with the demands of the right-wing group in the Netanyahu government who are urging a military attack to be launched rather than continuing the second phase of the ceasefire.

The day before on Channel 13 TV, Netanyahu held a meeting to discuss the possibility of continuing military operations. He also asked the Israeli military about their operational plans.

In the evening, Channel 12 TV reported that Prime Minister Netanyahu canceled a meeting with Israeli negotiators. Netanyahu was said to be considering appointing Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer to lead the negotiating team for the release of hostages with Hamas. He would replace Israel's Foreign Intelligence Agency (Mossad) Director David Barnea.

However, Barnea will remain on the negotiating team along with Director of the Internal Intelligence Service (Shin Bet) Ronen Bar, hostage negotiator Nitzan Alon will remain on the Israeli negotiating team.

Israeli officials, as reported by the Times of Israel, Netanyahu are trying to keep all options in negotiations open. An Israeli official said the main negotiations were now taking place between the Israeli team and the United States negotiating team.

For that reason, Netanyahu chose Ron Dermer, who has a diplomatic perspective, over Barnea, the Mossad Director, who has a security perspective.

Lieberman accused Netanyahu of prioritizing his continued interest in power over Israel's national interests.

The Israeli PM's office dismissed the Channel 12 and other media reports as untrue and said a decision on talks with Hamas would be made after Netanyahu returns from the United States.

On the Lebanese news website Al Manar, Yisrael Beiteinu Party leader Avigdor Lieberman said the main purpose of Netanyahu's visit to the US was to thwart the second phase of the ceasefire. Lieberman accused Netanyahu of prioritizing his continued power over Israel's national interests.

Al Manar also reported Hamas' readiness to continue negotiations and reach a second phase of the ceasefire agreement. A Hamas official said the negotiations began on Monday (3/202025) in Doha, Qatar. Hamas is committed to implementing all agreements to end the war.

This phase of negotiations will focus on a permanent ceasefire, preventing war, and ensuring an Israeli military withdrawal, including from the Philadelphia Corridor that borders Raffah with Egypt.

The talks will also discuss the release of Palestinian prisoners. Hamas asserts that their network such as the Al-Qassam Brigades, and other fighters as well as Israeli military officials and Israeli soldiers who are being held hostage by Hamas.

The second phase of the ceasefire also guarantees the continuation of humanitarian aid in the form of food, medicine and various necessities, 200,000 tents, 60,000 employees, and building materials to repair hospitals and water facilities, bakeries and fuel, and heavy equipment to clear the rubble of destroyed buildings.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Thursday (2/6/2025) that Palestinians should live elsewhere while the Gaza Strip is rebuilt. He did not explain whether Palestinians would be allowed to return after the Gaza Strip is rebuilt.

Rubio is scheduled to visit the Middle East in mid-February 2025 with a visit to Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

Hamas official Basem Naim accused Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, who claimed to be preparing the transfer of Palestinians from Gaza, of trying to cover up the failure of the war in Gaza. The discourse on the transfer of Palestinians is one of Israel's shortcuts to save face for their failure to achieve the targets they set in the war in Gaza.

The displacement of Palestinians meets the criteria for genocide set by the UN in 1994. The Palestinian people living in the Gaza Strip and the Israeli-occupied West Bank are in fact refugees expelled by Israel in May 1948 in the Al Nakba (Catastrophe) event. The Jewish military expelled 90 percent of the Palestinian population to form the current state of Israel.

The dark shadow of a repeat of the Nakba looms over the Gaza Strip as the second phase of Hamas-Israel ceasefire talks hangs in limbo. (Reuters)