Wednesday, February 5, 2025
0530 GMT –– Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said Us President Donald Trump's remarks about taking over Gaza are 'ridiculous' and 'absurd'.
"Trump's remarks about his desire to control Gaza are ridiculous and absurd, and any ideas of this kind are capable of igniting the region," Abu Zuhri told Reuters.
More updates 👇
0749 GMT — Hamas says 'racist' Trump Gaza plan aims to 'eliminate Palestinian cause'
Palestinian resistance group Hamas has rejected US President Donald Trump's surprise plan to "take control" of Gaza, calling it "racist" and aimed at eliminating the Palestinian cause.
"The American racist stance aligns with the Israeli extreme right's position in displacing our people and eliminating our cause," Hamas spokesman Abdel Latif al-Qanou said in a statement.
0729 GMT — 'Palestinians aren't going anywhere' says US lawmaker, rejecting Trump's relocation proposal
US Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib has denounced President Donald Trump’s recent controversial proposal for Palestinians to leave Gaza, saying: "Palestinians aren't going anywhere."
"Because of bipartisan support in Congress for funding genocide and ethnic cleansing. It's time for my two-state solution colleagues to speak up," Tlaib, the first Palestinian American woman to serve in Congress, wrote on X.
0240 GMT — Australia backs two-state solution
Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said the government supported a two-state solution in the Middle East, following Trump's shock announcement of plans to occupy Gaza.
"Australia's position is the same as it was this morning, as it was last year," Albanese told a news conference.
"The Australian government supports on a bipartisan basis, a two-state solution."
0219 GMT — Saudi Arabia stands firm on Palestine, rejects Trump's claim
Saudi Arabia has reaffirmed its stance that it will not normalise relations with Israel without the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, rejecting a claim by US President Donald Trump that Riyadh had dropped the demand.
The Saudi Foreign Ministry issued a statement emphasising that the kingdom's position remains "firm and unwavering" following Trump's remarks during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House.
Asked if the Saudis demand the establishment of a Palestinian state, Trump, sitting alongside Netanyahu in the Oval Office, replied: "No, they’re not."
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirms that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s position on the establishment of a Palestinian state is firm and unwavering," the Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
"His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, clearly and unequivocally reaffirmed this stance during his speech at the opening of the first session of the ninth term of the Shura Council on September 18, 2024."
The statement recalled that the crown prince reiterated the kingdom’s commitment during the Arab-Islamic Summit held in Riyadh on November 11, 2024, stressing the need for a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders and an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.
"The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia emphasises that this unwavering position is non-negotiable and not subject to compromises.
0126 GMT — Flanked by Netanyahu, Trump says US will take over Gaza
President Donald Trump has made an extraordinary proposal for the United States to "take over" Gaza, as he hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for crucial talks on the truce with Hamas.
Trump also doubled down on his call for Palestinians to move out of the war-battered territory to Middle Eastern countries like Egypt and Jordan, despite Palestine and both nations flatly rejecting his suggestion.
"The US will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it, too. We'll own it," Trump told a joint press conference with Netanyahu.
Trump said the United States would get rid of unexploded bombs, "level the site" and remove destroyed buildings, and "create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area."
But Trump appeared to suggest that it was not Palestinians who would return there.
"It should not go through a process of rebuilding and occupation by the same people that have really stood there and fought for it and lived there and died there and lived a miserable existence there," he said.
He said Gaza's two million inhabitants should instead "go to other countries of interest with humanitarian hearts."
0048 GMT — Protests over Trump's plan on Gaza
Pro-Palestinian groups gathered outside the White House in Washington, DC to protest Israel’s war crimes in Gaza and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with US President Donald Trump.
The demonstration came as Trump hosted Netanyahu in the Oval Office for talks.
Waving Palestinian flags, the protestors chanted “Free, free Palestine” and “Stop hosting a war criminal."
They also held signs saying “Prime Minister of Genocide," “Netanyahu is a War Criminal" and "Israel Kills."
