Iran Netanyahu wants to defeat Israel's enemies with Trump
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has congratulated US President Donald Trump on his inauguration and called for a joint fight against Israel's enemies.
21.01.2025, 04:28
21.01.2025, 04:29
SDA
He looked forward to working together to free the hostages still being held in the Gaza Strip, "to destroy Hamas' military capabilities and to end its political rule in the Gaza Strip", Netanyahu said in a video distributed by his office. Hamas, meanwhile, confirmed that the next release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners will take place on Saturday. Four abductees are to be released in accordance with the Gaza agreement.
In his speech at the traditional inauguration parade, Trump also commented on the hostages of the Islamist terrorist organization, with some relatives of the abductees still held in Gaza standing behind him. They wanted to urge the new US administration to ensure that the Gaza agreement, which was painstakingly negotiated over months, is fully respected, wrote the Times of Israel. A six-week ceasefire has been in force in Gaza since Sunday.
Will the Gaza war continue?
Relatives fear that Israel's military will resume fighting after the first phase of the agreement at Netanyahu's behest and that the head of government will thus prevent the release of the remaining hostages. After the ceasefire came into force, Hamas released three female Israeli hostages on Sunday. In return, Israel released 90 Palestinians from custody. In the first of the three phases of the agreement, a total of 1,904 Palestinian prisoners are to be released in exchange for 33 of the 94 remaining hostages. It is assumed that at least 34 of those kidnapped in Gaza are already dead.
On the eve of the ceasefire, Netanyahu had reiterated that Israel would resume fighting if the further negotiations planned in the near future failed and would enforce all war aims, including the destruction of Hamas. Israel has the right to do so and Trump supports this, he said.
Trump on Gaza: "phenomenal situation by the sea"
Meanwhile, in the White House, the new US President responded to a journalist's question as to whether the ceasefire would last by saying that he was not confident. "It's not our war, it's their war," said Trump. The "other side" is "very weakened". He had looked at a picture from Gaza - it looked like a large demolition site, most of the people there were dead. It would have to be rebuilt in "a different way".
Trump praised the devastated Gaza Strip, where the civilian population suffers from catastrophic living conditions and tens of thousands of people have been killed and injured since the start of the war, for its "phenomenal location by the sea" and "best weather". You could do "some beautiful" and "fantastic" things with it. There are many right-wing extremists in Israel who would love to recolonize the Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, according to the United Nations, on the second day of the ceasefire, 915 trucks carrying aid supplies reached the Gaza Strip to supply the Palestinian population - significantly more than during the fighting. Before the war, which was triggered by the Hamas massacre on October 7, 2023, around 500 trucks had transported goods to the coastal strip on normal days.
The Gulf emirate of Qatar, which is known for its close ties to Hamas and mediates in the conflict with Israel, also declared that it would provide 1.2 million liters of fuel per day for the Gaza Strip during the first ten days of the ceasefire. Israel's government has repeatedly accused Hamas of diverting a large part of the aid deliveries for its own purposes and withholding urgently needed goods from the civilian population.
Netanyahu wants to "defeat the Iranian terror axis" with Trump
In his congratulatory message to Trump, Netanyahu also invoked the joint fight against Iran's influence in the Middle East. "I am confident that we will succeed in defeating the Iranian terror axis," said Israel's head of government. In addition to Hamas, Tehran's allies include Hezbollah in Lebanon, which has been severely weakened militarily by Israel, and the Houthi militia in Yemen. Israel also suspects Iran of pursuing a nuclear weapons program that must be stopped by all means. The Islamic Republic denies this accusation.
