The Times of Israel is liveblogging Thursday’s events as they happen.
US looking for Palestinians who can staff technocratic government in post-war Gaza
The US is working to identify and recruit Palestinians to take part in the transitional technocratic government that will administer postwar Gaza, a senior adviser to US President Donald Trump says.
The senior Trump adviser indicates during a briefing with reporters that the US is prioritizing deconfliction, ramping up humanitarian aid, recovering hostages’ remains and demilitarizing Gaza. However, individuals have reached out in the meantime to express interest in joining the technocratic government because they realize that “Hamas is weaker than [it has] ever been.”
A number of candidates for the technocratic government are coming from the Palestinian diaspora.
“Certain Palestinians have said living in the West Bank under the PA (Palestinian Authority) rule has been like living under the mafia, and a lot of the people who wanted to have a good life just had to leave because it’s not a functional place in that regard. And obviously Gaza was run by a terrorist organization,” the Trump adviser says in surprisingly biting criticism of Ramallah, just days after Washington agreed to include PA President Mahmoud Abbas in the Gaza summit held in Sharm el-Sheikh earlier this week during which Trump was seen warmly embracing Abbas during a photo-op.
“There’s a lot of incredibly successful Palestinians in the diaspora who really want to see the suffering of their people end, and they’ve been reaching out to try to be a part of [the technocratic government],” the senior Trump adviser says.
“It’s the first time that they believe that there could be a new alternative created that’s not the Palestinian Authority and not Hamas, that could finally be a leadership that allows the Palestinian people to break free of the poor situations they’ve been in, which has mostly been inflected by poor leadership and bad decisions.”
The Trump-chaired Board of Peace overseeing the technocratic government will ultimately determine who will sit on the latter body, the Trump adviser says. The Board of Peace also has yet to be filled, though.
“It could be very successful if you get the right leaders who are doing it for the right reasons and trying to create a new system, compared to the old patronage and corrupt systems that have failed,” the Trump adviser adds.
As for whether the transitional government will lead to Palestinian self-determination, the senior Trump adviser avoids getting into the issue.
“The goal with this is less to get stuck in these old word games of statehood, sovereignty, governance,” he continues. “Let’s just make this place functional. President Trump is about pragmatism and about results. We’re trying to stay away from the old diplomatic parlor games that have not achieved a better life for the Palestinian people.”
“President Trump believes that the way you get real peace is addressing the issues that matter, which are security and economic opportunity… The goal is [to have] everyone happy to live side by side and benefiting from each other. Then there are many different things that you can call it that could be agreed upon in the future,” the Trump aide continues.
The text of Trump’s 20-point plan is more definitive regarding the issue of Palestinian statehood, though.
“While Gaza redevelopment advances and when the [Palestinian Authority] reform program is faithfully carried out, the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood, which we recognize as the aspiration of the Palestinian people,” reads point 19.
Point 20 states, “The United States will establish a dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians to agree on a political horizon for peaceful and prosperous co-existence.”
However, it appears that those last two points were included largely to placate Arab partners who have conditioned their support for the plan on it leading to an eventual two-state solution, as they argue that a failure to advance Palestinian political rights will lead to renewed violence.
Further demonstrating that the US may not stand behind the latter two points of its plan, Trump told reporters on Wednesday that his proposal doesn’t get into whether there will be a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“A lot of people like the one-state solution. Some people like the two-state solution. So we’ll have to see. I haven’t commented on that… At some point, I’d decide what I think is right, but I’d be in coordination with other states,” Trump said.
US stresses Gazans won’t be forced to leave Strip during reconstruction
A senior adviser to US President Donald Trump reiterates that Gazans will not be forced to leave the Strip while it is being rebuilt.
Trump’s plan for ending the war explicitly states that Palestinians will be encouraged to stay in the Gaza Strip, but reporters have continued asking whether anyone will be forced to leave.
The American president had proposed in February that the US take over Gaza and permanently relocate the Strip’s entire population. While the idea was widely embraced in Israel, it was overwhelmingly rejected by the rest of the international community and Trump eventually distanced himself from the initiative.
The US president’s proposal was unveiled shortly after his special envoy Steve Witkoff visited the Gaza and declared that the enclave was largely uninhabitable as it was full of unexploded ordinances.
But in a briefing with reporters on condition of anonymity, the senior Trump adviser indicates that Washington has undergone an about-face on the matter.
“These are tough people. They’ve been through a lot, and they seem to be resilient. They’re coming back to their homes, and they’re pitching tents. People feel very invested in the places where they live. It’s remarkable to see,” he says.
“While there are Gazans who have left because the living conditions are that difficult… no one is forcing any Gazans to leave,” the senior Trump adviser adds.
Senior Trump adviser says ‘many’ countries have offered to join Gaza security force
A senior adviser to US President Donald Trump says many countries, including Indonesia, have offered to contribute to the International Stabilization Force that is slated to secure Gaza in place of the IDF during the transitional postwar period, according to Washington’s 20-point plan for ending the conflict there.
“With regard to countries who have raised their hand to be a part of the ISF — there are many. Indonesia comes to mind. Many of the different Arab and Muslim countries. The Emirates are in conversations with us. Certainly Egypt is. I think the Qataris are talking to us. Azerbaijan,” says the Trump adviser during a briefing with reporters.
It’s unclear whether any of those countries have actually agreed to send troops. Indonesia is the only country to date that has publicly offered to do so, saying it can send 20,000 soldiers to Gaza, while specifying that it would be under a UN-mandated peacekeeping mission — something that is not outlined in Trump’s plan.
Moreover, Arab officials have repeatedly told The Times of Israel that the UAE and Qatar do not intend to send troops but could assist with funds or training.
Trump adviser: Gaza demilitarization ‘very complex,’ we’re working on ‘defining how to get there’
A senior Trump adviser acknowledges that implementing the demilitarization of Gaza will be a very difficult task.
“Right now we’re in the process of defining how to get there in a way where everyone feels safe,” the Trump adviser says during a briefing with reporters.
“It’s not realistic to think everyone’s just going to walk in, drop their arms and say, ‘There you go,’ he says.
“A lot of the people — even on the Hamas side — are fearful of retribution from other people inside Gaza. So it’s a very complex dynamic,” the Trump adviser continues.
“But the sentiment from the Arab mediators and from us is that they still want to continue to work together to find a way to do it,” he adds. “We’re all working very closely, creatively and aggressively to find the right outcome that satisfies everyone’s objectives.”
Regardless, the Trump adviser asserts all mediators agree that “no rebuilding money will go into areas that Hamas controls.”
“Hamas-free, terror-free zones” will be rebuilt first and those areas “hopefully can be the examples for what could be possible in the whole place if this program is successful.”
“We’ll know over the coming weeks if the right plan develops” for demilitarizing Gaza, the Trump adviser says.
“If Hamas tries to reconstitute in a way that will pose a long term threat for Israel, that would be a violation of the agreement, but we’re not at a point yet where anyone feels like the agreement has been violated,” he adds.
US, Israel working to set up safe zone in part of IDF-controlled Gaza where civilians fearing Hamas can flee
The United States is working with Israel to set up a safe zone inside the areas of Gaza still controlled by the IDF to which Palestinian civilians fearing Hamas retribution can flee.
The initiative is part of the US response to the summary executions that Hamas has carried out since the ceasefire came into place last week against dozens of Palestinians from rival gangs and those it has accused of collaborating against Israel. US President Donald Trump initially justified the executions, arguing that the victims were members of “very bad gangs,” but he has since softened his stance slightly and said he’s looking into the matter further. The commander of US forces in the Middle East has taken a harder line, issuing a statement demanding that Hamas cease its targeting of “innocent Palestinian civilians.”
Commenting on the issue during a briefing with reporters, a senior Trump adviser says, “The US working with Israel to try and create some space in the safe zone behind the Yellow Line for people who feel [under] threat to be able to go to so.”
The Yellow Line is the boundary inside Gaza to which the IDF pulled back upon the implementation of the ceasefire, reducing its control over Gaza slightly to 53% of the territory.
“This is in response to the reports we’ve been seeing of Hamas executing rivals,” the senior Trump adviser says, hailing Israel’s willingness to cooperate with the effort.
Israel is “making a big effort to try to embrace and protect and help those who want live peacefully side by side and who are renouncing Hamas and wanting to choose a different path,” he adds.
No timeline was given for when it will be implemented, and Israel has yet to confirm that it is on board.
US denies Hamas violating ceasefire deal, vows no hostage will be ‘left behind’ in Gaza
The US denies that Hamas is violating the ceasefire deal with Israel, insisting that a dragged out process to return the bodies of hostages held in Gaza was expected, given the difficult conditions on the ground.
“We’ve heard a lot of people saying, ‘Hamas violated the deal, because not all the bodies have been returned.’ The understanding we had with them was we get all the live hostages out, which they did honor that,” says a senior adviser to US President Donald Trump during a briefing with reporters.
“Right now, we have a mechanism in place where we’re working closely with mediators… to do our best to get as many bodies out as possible,” the senior aide says on condition of anonymity. “We continue to give [the mediators] the intelligence that the Israelis have [on where bodies may be located] and we keep working in good faith until we are able to exhaust that mechanism.”
A second top Trump adviser on the briefing — also speaking on condition of anonymity — says, “Hamas did the right thing when they gave all of the 20 live hostages up at the same time. That was a big moment.”
The second Trump adviser notes that it was only possible to begin retrieving bodies once the ceasefire came into place last week, given that Gaza had been an active war zone.
The amount of debris in Gaza dwarfs what was left after the World Trade Center was bombed on 9/11, the second Trump aide claims. “On top of all that debris is a lot of unexploded ordinance, and presumably, under that… there are many bodies.”
“It would have been almost impossible for Hamas — even if they knew where all the 28 bodies were — to mobilize and get them all,” says the second Trump adviser.
“First we got three. Then we got four. Then we got another four,” the aide continues, citing incorrect figures on the number of bodies Hamas returned. It transferred four bodies on both Monday and Tuesday, though one of those was later identified as a Palestinian, while only two bodies — not four — were returned on Wednesday.
“We’re probably going to put together some program where we’re going to ask [Gazans] to see if they can help us to locate bodies, and we’re going to pay rewards for that type of good behavior,” the second Trump adviser reveals.
He adds that the US has been in touch with Turkey, which is willing to send experts to help retrieve bodies, as they have experiences derived from earthquakes. It’s unclear whether Israel will accept such assistance, given the bad blood between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has likened the Israeli leader to Hitler.
“The sentiment in Israel is always [that Hamas] can do more. What we basically say to the Israeli side… is, ‘Give us whatever intelligence you’re hearing or seeing… If you think that there’s something [the mediators or Hamas] could be doing or should be doing that you don’t think they’re doing, then pass it over and we’ll convey it,” the first Trump adviser says.
While recognizing that it’s a complex effort. the second Trump adviser stresses that the US is committed to retrieving all remaining bodies of hostages.
“We’re not going to leave here until everybody comes home… Nobody is getting left behind,” he says.