Trump hopes second phase of Gaza peace plan begins ‘as quickly as possible’

The President of the United States, Donald Trump, expressed this Monday together with the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, that he hopes that the second phase of the peace plan for the Gaza Strip begins “as quickly as possible”, although to do so he has urged the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) to disarm.

“There has to be disarmament: we have to disarm Hamas,” the president explained in statements to the press alongside Netanyahu, adding that he hopes that the reconstruction phase in the Palestinian enclave will begin “very soon.”

Trump has also stated that he would support a new attack against Iran if it tries to recover its nuclear capabilities and has advised Tehran, faced with this possibility, to choose to close an agreement with Washington. “They could have reached an agreement last time, before we launched a big attack on them,” he recalled.

Likewise, Trump has highlighted that his relationship with Netanyahu is “extraordinary.” “Sometimes it can be very difficult, but you need a strong man. If there were a weak man, there would be no Israel now,” he said shortly before holding a bilateral meeting at his residence in Mar-A-Lago, in the state of Florida.

For his part, Netanyahu has praised the relationship between Israel and the United States. “You can judge this not only by the frequency of our meetings, but by the content and intensity,” said the prime minister, adding that the world is “great fortunate” to have Trump in the White House.

FORGIVENESS TO NETANYAHU

Trump — who sent a letter to Israeli President Isaac Herzog in November urging him to pardon Netanyahu — has called his ally “a wartime prime minister” and a “hero.” “How is it possible that they don’t grant him a pardon?” he asked.

In this sense, he has assured that he has recently spoken with Herzog, who confirmed that the pardon “is on the way.” However, shortly afterwards the president’s office issued a statement denying that this conversation took place.

“There have not been any conversations between President Herzog and President Trump since the pardon request was submitted. Several weeks ago, President Herzog had a conversation with a representative of President Trump (…) who explained the stage of the process the request is currently in and that any decision on the matter will be made in accordance with established procedures,” the statement reads.

The Israeli Prime Minister also met during the day with the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, to address, among other topics, “regional security, economic cooperation and the fight against anti-Semitism.”

“Both leaders stressed the importance of continuing cooperation to promote peace and stability in the Middle East, consistent with the vision of President Trump’s 20-point peace plan,” the State Department said in a statement.

Netanyahu already held a video conference the day before with billionaire Elon Musk in a conversation in which the Minister of Transportation, Miri Regev, and the director of the National AI Directorate, Erez Eskel, also participated.

“Musk accepted the invitation of the Prime Minister and Minister Regev to participate in the Intelligent Transportation Conference to be held in March. In addition, they discussed continued cooperation with Tesla and the advancement of legislation regarding autonomous vehicles,” Netanyahu’s office detailed in a statement.