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Netanyahu Backs Trump’s ‘Voluntary Migration’ Plan for Gaza Civilians, Urges Hamas Leaders to Go Into Exile
US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meet at the White House in Washington, DC, US, Feb. 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said over the weekend that Israel still supports and plans on going forward with US President Donald Trump’s “voluntary migration” plan for civilians in Gaza, offering Hamas terrorist leaders exile if the group disarms.
While speaking to the Israeli cabinet on Sunday, Netanyahu said that Israel plans on intensifying military “pressure” in Gaza with the aim of forcing Hamas leaders to surrender and evacuate, allowing “Trump’s voluntary migration” plan to take effect.
“Hamas will lay down its weapons. Its leaders will be allowed to leave. We will see to the general security in the Gaza Strip and will allow the realization of the Trump plan for voluntary migration,” the Israeli premier said. “This is the plan. We are not hiding this and are ready to discuss it at any time.”
Netanyahu reiterated that Hamas must disarm, although the Palestinian terrorist group has rejected such calls as a “red line” it will not cross. He added that Israel was committed to negotiating a solution that would see the release of the remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza who Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists kidnapped during their Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel.
On Saturday, a top Hamas leader said the terrorist organization had accepted a new ceasefire plan put forth by mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and the United States and called on Israel to back it.
Israel confirmed receiving the proposal and has submitted a counterproposal, according to Netanyahu’s office.
On Monday, Israeli officials said the government has proposed an extended truce in Gaza in exchange for the return of about half the remaining hostages.
The latest proposals, which would leave open a final agreement over ending the Israel-Hamas war, would involve the return of half the 24 hostages believed still to be alive in Gaza – and about half the 35 assumed to be dead – during a truce lasting between 40 and 50 days, Reuters reported.
Last week, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich revealed that the cabinet approved a proposal by Defense Minister Israel Katz to organize “a voluntary transfer for Gaza residents who express interest in moving to third countries, in accordance with Israeli and international law, and following the vision of US President Donald Trump.”
Israel would also take responsibility for “establishing movement routes, pedestrian checks at designated crossings in the Gaza Strip,” to ensure safe passage for Palestinian civilians.
Trump in February proposed the resettlement of Palestinians from Gaza to neighboring countries, calling the enclave a “demolition site” and saying residents have “no alternative” as he held critical talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House.
“[The Palestinians] have no alternative right now” but to leave Gaza, Trump told reporters before Netanyahu arrived. “I mean, they’re there because they have no alternative. What do they have? It is a big pile of rubble right now.”
Trump argued that Palestinians would benefit from leaving Gaza and expressed astonishment at the notion that they would want to remain in the beleaguered enclave.
“Look, the Gaza thing has not worked. It’s never worked. And I feel very differently about Gaza than a lot of people. I think they should get a good, fresh, beautiful piece of land. We’ll get some people to put up the money to build it and make it nice and make it habitable and enjoyable,” he said.
Arab leaders of Israel’s neighboring states slammed the plan, vowing not to absorb any refugees from Gaza.
Trump said earlier this month that “nobody is expelling any Palestinians” from the enclave, seemingly suggesting that any resettlement outside of Gaza would be voluntary.
The post Netanyahu Backs Trump’s ‘Voluntary Migration’ Plan for Gaza Civilians, Urges Hamas Leaders to Go Into Exile first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iran’s Supreme Leader Says Trump Is Lying When He Speaks of Peace
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting with government officials in Tehran, Iran, April 15, 2025. Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused Donald Trump on Saturday of lying when the US president said during his Gulf tour this week that he wanted peace in the region.
On the contrary, said Khamenei, the United States uses its power to give “10-ton bombs to the Zionist (Israeli) regime to drop on the heads of Gaza’s children.”
Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One after departing the United Arab Emirates on Friday that Iran had to move quickly on a US proposal for its nuclear program or “something bad’s going to happen.”
His remarks, said Khamenei, “aren’t even worth responding to.” They are an “embarrassment to the speaker and the American people,” Khamenei added.
“Undoubtedly, the source of corruption, war, and conflict in this region is the Zionist regime — a dangerous, deadly cancerous tumor that must be uprooted; it will be uprooted,” he said at an event at a religious center in Tehran, according to state media.
Earlier on Saturday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Trump speaks about peace while simultaneously making threats.
“Which should we believe?” Pezeshkian said at a naval event in Tehran. “On the one hand, he speaks of peace and on the other, he threatens with the most advanced tools of mass killing.”
Tehran would continue Iran-US nuclear talks but is not afraid of threats. “We are not seeking war,” Pezeshkian said.
While Trump said on Friday that Iran had a US proposal about its nuclear program, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in a post on X said Tehran had not received any such proposal. “There is no scenario in which Iran abandons its hard-earned right to (uranium) enrichment for peaceful purposes…” he said.
Araqchi warned on Saturday that Washington’s constant change of stance prolongs nuclear talks, state TV reported.
“It is absolutely unacceptable that America repeatedly defines a new framework for negotiations that prolongs the process,” the broadcast quoted Araqchi as saying.
Pezeshkian said Iran would not “back down from our legitimate rights”.
“Because we refuse to bow to bullying, they say we are source of instability in the region,” he said.
A fourth round of Iran-U.S. talks ended in Oman last Sunday. A new round has not been scheduled yet.
The post Iran’s Supreme Leader Says Trump Is Lying When He Speaks of Peace first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hamas Confirms New Gaza Ceasefire Talks with Israel in Qatar on Saturday
Doha, Qatar. Photo: StellarD via Wikimedia Commons.
A new round of Gaza ceasefire negotiations between Hamas and Israel is underway in Qatar’s Doha, Hamas official Taher al-Nono told Reuters on Saturday.
He said the two sides were discussing all issues without “pre-conditions.”
Nono said Hamas was “keen to exert all the effort needed” to help mediators make the negotiations a success, adding there was “no certain offer on the table.”
The negotiations come despite Israel preparing to expand operations in the Gaza Strip as they seek “operational control” in some areas of the war-torn enclave.
The return to negotiations also comes after US President Donald Trump ended a Middle East tour on Friday with no apparent progress towards a new ceasefire, although he acknowledged Gaza’s growing hunger crisis and the need for aid deliveries.
The post Hamas Confirms New Gaza Ceasefire Talks with Israel in Qatar on Saturday first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Report: ICC’s Khan Goes on Administrative Leave Amid Sexual Misconduct Probe
International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan speaks during an interview with Reuters in The Hague, Netherlands, Feb. 12, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw
i24 News – Chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Karim Khan has stepped down temporarily as an investigation into his alleged sexual misconduct by United Nations investigators is nearing its final phase, Reuters reported on Friday citing sources from the international court.
Khan allegedly forced sexual intercourse upon a member of staff on multiple occasions, the Wall Street Journal reported last week, linking the allegations to Khan’s decision to issue arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-defense minister Yoav Gallant.
A statement is expected later today announcing that Khan is going on administrative leave, according to a source in the prosecutor’s office.
The post Report: ICC’s Khan Goes on Administrative Leave Amid Sexual Misconduct Probe first appeared on Algemeiner.com.