GNITN - Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 478

Trump At It Again

Trump Floats Gaza Idea

US President Donald Trump made a suggestion for relocating Gazans as we learn in a report from The Epoch Times:

President Donald Trump said on Jan. 25 that he wants Egypt, Jordan, and other Arab nations to accept more Palestinian refugees from the Gaza Strip, with the goal of moving out enough of the war-torn area’s population to “just clean [it] out” and create a virtual clean slate of the Palestinian territory.

Trump made the comments to reporters on Air Force One and he addressed the bomb shipment the previous administration held up:

Trump made the comments during a 20-minute question-and-answer conference with reporters on Air Force One on Jan. 25. He said he lifted former President Joe Biden’s hold on sending 2,000-pound bombs to Israel, which was intended to lower civilian casualties in the Israel–Hamas War, now paused during a fragile cease-fire deal.

Trump said he released the bombs that day, “They’ve been waiting for them for a long time.”

When asked why he lifted the ban, Trump said, “Because they bought” the bombs.

He then dropped a bomb of his own when he talked about his hopes for the Gaza Strip:

The president has backed Israel for much of his political career. Regarding his goals for Gaza, Trump described a call earlier in the day with Jordan’s King Abdullah II and said he would speak with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on Jan. 26.

“I’d like Egypt to take people,” Trump said. “You’re talking about probably a million and a half people, and we just clean out that whole thing and say, ‘You know, it’s over.’”

Trump pushed the Jordanian king to take more Gazan refugees:

During his call with Abdullah, Trump said he complimented Jordan for taking in Palestinian refugees and told the king, “I'd love for you to take on more, cause I’m looking at the whole Gaza Strip right now, and it’s a mess. It’s a real mess.”

Trump knew his comments would be receive criticism, but his feelings are things can’t continue the way they’ve been:

The resettling or displacement of Gaza refugees would likely spur pushback from Palestinians, who hold a connection to the region. Trump said the area has experienced “many, many conflicts” for centuries and that resettling could be “temporary or long term.”

“Something has to happen,” the president said. “But it’s literally a demolition site right now. Almost everything’s demolished, and people are dying there.”

“So, I’d rather get involved with some of the Arab nations, and build housing in a different location, where they can maybe live in peace for a change.”

Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office declined to offer a view:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office did not issue an immediate response to Trump’s remarks.

Location, Location, Location

Sounding more like a real estate agent, Trump sees great potential for the area:

After his inauguration on Jan. 20, Trump said Gaza has “really got to be rebuilt in a different way.”

”Gaza is interesting. It’s a phenomenal location, on the sea. The best weather, you know, everything is good. It’s like, some beautiful things could be done with it.”

The terrorists are loathe to the idea as we would expect, but their comments are more than a tad exaggerated, which likely means Trump is right:

The response from the Hamas terrorist group and its aligned groups was swift, with the terrorist organization Palestinian Islamic Jihad calling Trump’s idea “deplorable.” The group told AFP that the plan encourages “war crimes and crimes against humanity by forcing our people to leave their land.”

Hamas said that they would thwart the plans:

Bassem Naim of Hamas’s political bureau told AFP that Palestinians would foil those plans, just as they have with other ideas “for displacement and alternative homelands over the decades.”

While they are opposed to the idea, they tried to play nice when talking about Trump:

He added that Gazans would not “accept any offers or solutions, even if their apparent intentions are good under the banner of reconstruction, as proposed by U.S. President Trump.”

Inside Israel there are some who think Trump is on to something:

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, an opponent of the Gaza truce deal, called Trump’s idea of seeking relocation for Gazans a “great idea.”

“Only out-of-the-box thinking with new solutions will bring a solution of peace and security,” he said.

The new US president wasted no time delivering the bombs that Biden used to blackmail Israel:

Trump’s resumption of large bomb deliveries is a break from the policy pursued by Biden, who stalled their delivery in May to limit an all-out assault on Rafah, the southern Gaza city. Israel took control of the city a month later after a majority of Rafah’s one million residents that had lived or taken shelter in the city had been removed.

Still More Games

As we read from an article in The Jerusalem Post Hamas did their best to make the hostages look like they were treated well when the exact opposite was true:

Hamas has reportedly implemented an “accelerated rehabilitation” process for the hostages before their release. The terrorist organization, according to a report from N12, provides hostages with nutritious food and stimulants shortly before their release to create the impression that they were treated well during captivity.

This practice has come to light amid the ongoing phased release of hostages. The report states that Hamas ensures hostages appear energetic and in good condition upon their return to Israel. However, testimonies from recently freed women paint a starkly different picture of their captivity.

As I knew would happen, over the next days and weeks these hostages will start to reveal what really happened to them, because the previous ones from November 2023 did, too:

Released hostages told Israeli authorities, according to N12, that they drank seawater and ate only bread and rice. Others revealed that they were held in harsh conditions, including underground tunnels and cages.

This is part of Hamas’ public relations tactics and is considered yet more of their psychological warfare meant to get the general public on their side:

N12 noted that the pre-release measures are part of Hamas’s efforts to influence public perception of their treatment of hostages.

We’re told of other games they’re playing when it pertains to a hostage they were supposed to release and didn’t. Apparently Hamas decided to find her and she may be released mid-week. Lastly Hamas was supposed to supply a list of the condition of the remaining hostages to be freed and still hasn’t done that as we see in a report from the Jewish News Syndicate:

Hamas on Saturday failed to provide Israel with a list detailing the status of the remaining 26 hostages slated to be released during the first phase of the ceasefire, in a second breach of the agreement within 24 hours, local media reported on Sunday.

According to the terms of the deal, Hamas was to inform Jerusalem by Saturday which of the remaining hostages, all of whom fall into the humanitarian category—female, children, elderly and sick—are alive.

As mentioned yesterday, releasing military personnel before civilians also breeched the deal. So far Israel decided that they would hold up Gazans moving back into northern Gaza until the Israeli civilian, Arbel Yehud is released per the deal. Hamas blamed another terrorist group for the delay which I don’t believe at all. Stalling is what they always do, which is making the Yehud family members experience more heartache. Israel fulfilled its obligations, though:

Despite the breach, Israel has maintained the agreed ratio of Palestinian terrorists to be released from its jails. The initial terms stipulated that more terrorists would be freed in exchange for soldiers than for civilians.

Hamas encouraged the civilians to return to the north anyway in yet another game to force Israel’s hand. It didn’t work:

Overnight, Hamas urged thousands of Arabs to return to the northern Strip in an attempt to put pressure on Israel, leading IDF soldiers to fire warning shots in an attempt to repel the crowd, local media reported.

And lest we also forget, Hamas broke the terms of the agreement from the very start:

Hamas breached the terms of the hostage release deal within 24 hours of its Jan. 19 implementation by failing to provide Israel with the names of the three female captives that were slated for release the next day.

At some point Israel will tell President Trump to release the hounds on Hamas as they are clearly not obeying what they agreed in writing to do. Yes, I want more hostages released, but at this rate it will take a year for all of them to come home. They don’t have that much time. I think Trump should have the military get ready to go, find the hostages, release them and then rain fire down on those holding them. And then unleash the IDF to clean Gaza up without any conditions.