Jared Kushner offered Sinwar $10 billion and control of Gaza to leave Israel alone – report
Hamas official Mahmoud Mardawi claimed that Jared Kushner offered Yahya Sinwar $10 billion and a Hamas-led Palestinian state in Gaza in exchange for relinquishing claims to Judea and Samaria and the rest of “Palestine” but Sinwar rejected the proposal.
How to rebuild Gaza? Egypt gets backing for counterproposal to Trump plan
Arab leaders on Tuesday endorsed Egypt’s postwar plan for the Gaza Strip that would allow its roughly 2 million Palestinians to remain, in a counterproposal to U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to depopulate the territory and redevelop it as a beach destination.
It was unclear if Israel or the United States would accept the Egyptian plan, whose endorsement by Arab leaders amounted to a widespread rejection of Trump’s proposal. The vote was announced by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi.
US and Israel reject the plan
March 5 (UPI) -- The United States dismissed a $53 billion, five-year reconstruction plan for Gaza backed by Arab states, saying President Donald Trump believed his proposal to transform the Palestinian enclave into a U.S.-owned "riviera of the Middle East" was more practical.
"The current [Arab states] proposal does not address the reality that Gaza is currently uninhabitable and residents cannot humanely live in a territory covered in debris and unexploded ordnance," U.S. National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said in a statement Tuesday night.
Continuing with AP...
Tuesday’s summit in Cairo included the emir of Qatar, the vice president of the United Arab Emirates and the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia — countries whose support is crucial for any postwar plan. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres also attended.
Addressing the summit, el-Sissi said that the plan “preserves the right of Palestinian people in rebuilding their nation and guarantees their existence on their land.”
It also means that Eqypt doesn't want the Palestinians.
Israel has embraced what it says is an alternative U.S. proposal for the ceasefire itself and the release of hostages taken in Hamas’ attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which triggered the war. Israel has blocked the entry of food, fuel, medicine and other supplies to Gaza to try to get Hamas to accept the new proposal and has warned of additional consequences, raising fears of a return to fighting.
The suspension of aid drew widespread criticism, with human rights groups saying that it violated Israel’s obligations as an occupying power under international law.
The new plan would require Hamas to release half its remaining hostages — the militant group’s main bargaining chip — in exchange for a ceasefire extension and a promise to negotiate a lasting truce. Israel made no mention of releasing more Palestinian prisoners — a key component of the first phase.
Egypt's postwar plan
Egypt’s $53 billion plan foresees rebuilding Gaza by 2030 without removing its population. The first phase calls for starting the removal of unexploded ordnance and clearing the more than 50 million tons of rubble left by Israel’s bombardment and military offensives.
A final communique said Egypt will host an international conference in cooperation with the United Nations for Gaza’s reconstruction. A World Bank-overseen trust fund will be established to receive pledges to implement the early recovery and reconstruction plan, it said.
According to a 112-page draft of the plan obtained by The Associated Press, hundreds of thousands of temporary housing units would be set up where Gaza’s population could live while reconstruction takes place. The rubble would be recycled, with some of it used as infill to create expanded lands on Gaza’s Mediterranean coast.
In the following years, the plan envisages completely reshaping the strip, building “sustainable, green and walkable” housing and urban areas, with renewable energy. It renovates agricultural lands and creates industrial zones and large park areas.
It also calls for the opening of an airport, a fishing port and a commercial port. The Oslo peace accords in the 1990s called for the opening of an airport and a commercial port in Gaza, but the projects withered as the peace process collapsed.
Under the plan, Hamas would cede power to an interim administration of political independents until a reformed Palestinian Authority can assume control. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, head of the Western-backed authority and an opponent of Hamas, was attending the summit.
Israel has ruled out any role for the Palestinian Authority in Gaza and, along with the United States, has demanded Hamas’ disarmament. Hamas, which doesn’t accept Israel’s existence, has said it’s willing to cede power in Gaza to other Palestinians, but won’t give up its arms until there is a Palestinian state.
Speaking at the summit, el-Sissi said there is a need for a parallel path for peace to achieve a “comprehensive, just and lasting settlement” to the Palestinian cause.
“There will be no true peace without the establishment of the Palestinian state,” the Egyptian leader said. “It’s time to adopt the launching of a serious and effective political path that leads to a permanent and lasting solution to the Palestinian cause according to the resolutions of international legitimacy.”
Israel has vowed to maintain open-ended security control over both territories, which it captured in the 1967 Mideast war and which Palestinians want for their future state. Israel’s government and most of its political class are opposed to Palestinian statehood.
Trump shocked the region last month when he suggested Gaza’s roughly 2 million Palestinians be resettled in other countries. He said the United States would take ownership of the territory and redevelop it into a Middle Eastern “Riviera.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu embraced the proposal, which was roundly rejected by Palestinians, Arab countries and human rights experts, who said it would likely violate international law.
Riccardo Fabiani, North Africa director at the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based think tank, said Egypt was “trying to present a credible alternative focused on reconstruction and an indirect consultation mechanism for Hamas that could reassure Israel and the US.”
Children from Gaza head to Jordan for treatment
Trump has suggested that Egypt and Jordan, two close American allies, could take in large numbers of Palestinian refugees from Gaza. Both countries have adamantly rejected any such plan.
Meeting with Trump at the White House last month, King Abdullah II of Jordan offered to take in around 2,000 children for medical treatment. The first group of around 30 children left Gaza for Jordan on Tuesday, according to Nasser Hospital in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis. The children are being accompanied by up to two family members.
Jordan said that the children are amputees and will return to Gaza when their treatment is complete. The kingdom has also set up field hospitals in Gaza and delivered aid by air and land.
The war began with Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, in which Palestinian militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 people hostage. Hamas-led militants are still holding 59 hostages, 35 of whom are believed to be dead.
Most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements. Israel has rescued eight living hostages and recovered the remains of dozens more.
Israel’s 15-month offensive killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. It doesn’t say how many were fighters, but the ministry says women and children made up more than half the dead. Israel says it killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
The offensive destroyed large areas of Gaza, including much of its health system and other infrastructure. At its height, the war displaced about 90% of the population, mostly within the territory, where hundreds of thousands packed into squalid tent camps and schools repurposed as shelters.
Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth says Israel working with Russia to keep Turkey out of Syria
Yedioth Ahronoth is Israel’s second-largest daily newspaper after Israel Today, and it reports that Israel is working with Russia to keep Turkey out of Syria. With most of the Western world obsessed with Russia and Ukraine, many may be nonplussed by this news. But there are other pressing issues besides Ukraine. For instance, Trump has warned that America “should worry less about Putin and more about migrant gangs, drug lords, murderers,” so that the US doesn’t end up like the European Union.
Turkey is extremely dangerous to Israel. It was responsible for facilitating and backing the jihadist regime that is now governing Syria, and it is virulently opposed to the state of Israel.
Israel has been launching strikes against several weapons sites inside Syria (military installations, facilities, and arsenals), so as to prevent jihad militias from getting their hands on the ammunition. Of course, Arab countries have been condemning Israel for “for violating Syria’s sovereignty and devastating assets belonging to the Arab nation”; not the least of these countries has been Turkey. Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has demanded that Israel withdraw from Syria.
Israel needs to keep Turkey out of Syria as a showdown looms.
Erdogan, meanwhile, is aiming for a global caliphate with himself as caliph, and he’ll use any means to achieve this goal.
Turkey facilitated the rise of the Islamic State, which continues to be an ever-present threat in Syria. 10,000 ISIS fighters are jailed inside Syrian detention centers, while tens of thousands more of their jihadi family members are in displaced person camps. This potentially enormous army of jihadists is a grave threat to Israel, to the region and to the world.
Turkey is now also said to have a role as a logistics hub for ISIS-K (Khorasan Province).
Turkey is menacing to Israel, and is now at Israel’s back door via its extensive presence in Syria. It is urgent that Israel do whatever it can to stop Turkey.
Turkey should also be expelled from NATO, but instead EU countries are arming it. Greece has been “fiercely lobbying France” to halt the sale of radar-guided, air-to-air Meteor missiles to Turkey. Yet despite Greece’s concerns, many EU countries are moving ahead with arms sales to Turkey.
Yedioth Ahronoth has also stated that “Israel is actively working against the establishment of Turkish military bases, the training of the Syrian army by Turkish forces, and Türkiye’s role in protecting Syrian airspace.” Israel is exercising foresight, since Turkey was the most formidable force behind the overthrow of al-Assad. Turkey has for a considerable period provided funding, training, and military support to jihadist Syrian opposition groups, including the Syrian National Army (SNA) and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
Netanyahu opposes Türkiye’s presence in Syria: Israeli media
Hurriyet Daily News, March 3, 2025:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly dispatched his military secretary, Roman Goffman, to Moscow to discuss Russia’s military operations in Syria.
According to the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, Goffman aims to strengthen ties with Russia during a series of meetings in Russia’s capital. The report highlights Israel’s preference for maintaining Syria in a “weakened state” and its alignment with Russia over Türkiye, which is described as a “dominant power in the region.”
It argues that Israel “clearly favors Russia over Türkiye” and is seeking measures to reduce Ankara’s influence in Syria.
The report further claims that Israel is actively working against the establishment of Turkish military bases, the training of the Syrian army by Turkish forces, and Türkiye’s role in protecting Syrian airspace.
Additionally, Reuters previously reported that Israel is lobbying the U.S. to support the continued presence of Russian bases in Syria rather than allowing Türkiye to establish a stronger foothold in the region….
Syria would be a great launching pad for a Turkish attack on Israel. Biblically, there are some historians who believe the Ezekiel 38,39 assault on Israel will be lead by Turkey, not Russia. If they are wrong, Russia is well-placed to lead an attack, but Russia has little interest in Israel. Erdogan, on the other hand....
Douglas Murray’s Bombshell Comment About Israel Left the Western World Stunned
The State of Israel is not merely an answer to the problem of antisemitism that provides a homeland for the Jewish people.
Douglas Murray argues that the State of Israel is indeed the beacon of light for morality for the entire Western civilization and that Israel’s enemies are attempting to destroy the entire idea of the Jewish origin of the entire Western world.
He is perhaps the most eloquent spokesman for the importance of the Jewish State today. He recognizes what few others are willing to accept – today’s enemies of Israel are absolutely focused on one thing – the destruction of the Jewish State of Israel.
He treats the existential threat to the Jewish people as a threat to the entire world too. That is a massively important statement.
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