‘Good idea,’ says Netanyahu on Trump’s plan to 'take over' Gaza

Netanyahu further asserted that the Israeli military had significantly weakened Hamas in Gaza.

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6 Feb 2025

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu endorsed former US President Donald Trump's proposal to remove Palestinians from Gaza, calling it a “good idea,” while rejecting the suggestion of deploying American troops to fight Hamas in the enclave.

"The first good idea I've heard," Netanyahu said in an interview with Fox News, suggesting that displaced Palestinians could return to Gaza once it is rebuilt, stating, "What's wrong with that?"

However, he dismissed the idea of US military involvement in Gaza, saying, "I don't think [the president] talked about sending US troops to complete the job of destroying Hamas. That's our commitment, that's our job, and we're absolutely committed to it."

Netanyahu also noted that Trump had not offered any assistance for Gaza’s reconstruction.

Speaking on Iran and Israel’s relations with Arab nations, Netanyahu claimed, "It's common knowledge that most of the Arab countries have shifted from seeing Israel as their great enemy to seeing Iran as their great enemy. They recognise that Israel is the one country in the Middle East that fought Iran."

He further asserted that the Israeli military had significantly weakened Hamas in Gaza, adding, "We'll make sure that it's not there when this war ends, and it could end very quickly."

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On Wednesday, Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and made several controversial statements about Gaza during a press conference.

“The US will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it too. We’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site, level the site and get rid of the destroyed buildings, level it out. Create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area … do a real job, do something different,” Trump said.