Closing Summary
We are closing our live coverage today of Trump’s executive order to sanction the international criminal court (ICC), and other developments in the Middle East.
Below is a wrap of everything you might have missed:
Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing sanctions on the ICC. The order accuses the ICC of having “engaged in illegitimate and baseless actions” targeting the US and its “close ally” Israel, and said the court “abused its power” by issuing “baseless” arrest warrants targeting Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and its former defense minister, Yoav Gallant.
Amnesty International secretary general Agnès Callamard described the order as “reckless” and “a brutal step that seeks to undermine and destroy what the international community has painstakingly constructed over decades, if not centuries”.
Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, ordered the military to prepare plans to allow Palestinians “who wish to leave” Gaza to exit. Asked who should take the residents of Gaza, Katz said it should be countries who have opposed Israel’s military operations since the 7 October attacks. He also claimed that Spain, Ireland, and Norway, who all last year recognised a Palestinian state, are “legally obligated to allow any Gaza resident to enter their territories”.
Trump doubled down on his proposal to “take ownership” of Gaza amid widespread opposition. In a Truth Social post, Trump said the Palestinian territory would be “turned over” to the US by Israel after it concludes its military offensive against Hamas. Netanyahu, who is in Washington, said it is “worth listening carefully” to Trump’s proposal.
Countries around the world continued to come out in opposition to Trump’s plan to turn Gaza into a “Riviera of the Middle East” after the 2.3 million Palestinians living there were transferred to other countries. Trump’s proposal would “squash” the ceasefire and “incite a return of fighting”, Egypt’s foreign ministry said. Russia called Trump’s proposal “counterproductive” and accused him of fuelling “tension in the region”. China’s foreign ministry said Beijing opposed the forced transfer of people in Gaza. Pakistan said Trump’s plan was “deeply troubling and unjust”, adding that “Palestinian land belongs to Palestinian people”. Iran said it “categorically rejected and condemned” Trump’s proposal.
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said Palestinians in Gaza are “going to have to live somewhere else in the interim”. Rubio described Gaza as “not habitable”, in comments that appeared to walk back on Trump’s proposal about transferring Palestinians permanently to neighbouring countries. Rubio is reportedly planning to visit the Middle East later this month.
Israel said late on Thursday it had struck two sites in Lebanon that allegedly contained weapons of the Hezbollah group, in violation of a ceasefire deal. Israeli forces “conducted a precise strike in Lebanese territory on two military sites that contained Hezbollah weapons, which were in violation of the ceasefire agreement,” the army said in a post on X.
The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) warned that the agency faces an “existential threat” after Israel formally banned it from operating on its territory. Philippe Lazzarini also described Trump’s Gaza proposal as “totally unrealistic”, adding: “We are talking about forced displacement. Forced displacement is a crime, an international crime. It’s ethnic cleansing.”
Human Rights Watch warned that the Trump’s proposal could move the US “from being complicit in war crimes to direct perpetration of atrocities”. Forced or coerced displacement is a crime against humanity, illegal under the Geneva conventions, to which Israel and the US are signatories. “Governments should together make clear their strong opposition to Trump’s call for forced displacement in Gaza and take action to prevent further atrocities against the Palestinian people,” HRW Middle East and North Africa director Lama Fakih said.
At least 47,583 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli attacks since October 2023, according to the Palestinian health ministry on Thursday. The ministry’s latest daily update also said a total of 111,633 have now been injured.
Israel informed the United Nations human rights council (UNHRC) it is formally withdrawing from the body. Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Saar, said the decision was reached “in light of the ongoing and unrelenting institutional bias against Israel in the human rights council.
Back on Trump’s shocking vision for a “Riviera of the Middle East”, Egypt has been quietly lobbying against the plan, according to the Associated Press.
Egyptian president, Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, has not publicly responded to Trump’s stunning proposal that most of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million Palestinians be relocated and the United States take charge of rebuilding the territory.
But in a statement on Thursday, the Egyptian government rejected efforts to move Palestinians from Gaza as a “blatant violation” of international law that could undercut ceasefire talks and threaten Middle East relations.
“This behavior provokes the return of hostilities and poses risks on the entire region and the foundations of peace,” the statement said.
Egyptian officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss closed-door talks, said Cairo has made clear to the Trump administration and Israel that it will resist any such proposal, and that the peace deal with Israel — which has stood for nearly half a century — is at risk.
According to the Associated Press, one official said the message has been delivered to the Pentagon, the state department and members of the US Congress. A second official said it has also been conveyed to Israel and its Western European allies, including Britain, France and Germany.
A Western diplomat in Cairo, also speaking anonymously because the discussions have not been made public, confirmed receiving Egypt’s message of its strong opposition through multiple channels. The diplomat said Egypt was very serious and viewed the plan as a threat to its national security.
The ICC has, in recent weeks, been bracing for possible sanctions from the US, the Guardian previously reported.
This January, ICC officials were preparing for Trump’s new US administration to act quickly once in office to impose draconian financial and travel restrictions against the court and senior staff, including its chief prosecutor and judges.
The threat of US sanctions has loomed over the ICC since it issued arrest warrants in November against the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his former defence minister, Yoav Gallant, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
In a report by Harry Davies, based on interviews with officials and diplomats familiar with the ICC’s preparations, this January the court was planning for a “worst case scenario” in which the US imposes sanctions against the institution in addition to measures targeting individuals.
Read the full story below:
'Reckless, vindictive and aggressive': Amnesty International reacts to Trump's ICC sanctions
In response to the executive order announced today by President Trump imposing sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC), Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s secretary general, said:
“This reckless action sends the message that Israel is above the law and the universal principles of international justice. It suggests that President Trump endorses the Israeli government’s crimes and is embracing impunity.
“Today’s executive order is vindictive. It is aggressive. It is a brutal step that seeks to undermine and destroy what the international community has painstakingly constructed over decades, if not centuries: global rules that are applicable to everyone and aim to deliver justice for all. The sanctions constitute another betrayal of our common humanity.”
The possible impacts of the sanctions
Any sanctions could “cripple” the court by making it harder for its investigators to travel and by compromising US-developed technology to safeguard evidence, according to the Associated Press.
The court last year suffered a major cyberattack that left employees unable to access files for weeks.
Some European countries are pushing back. The Netherlands, in a statement late last year, called on other ICC members “to cooperate to mitigate risks of these possible sanctions, so that the court can continue to carry out its work and fulfil its mandate.”
A rocky relationship with the ICC?
Like Israel, the US is not among the 124 members of the International Criminal Court and as the Associated Press writes, has long harboured suspicions that a “Global Court” of unelected judges could arbitrarily prosecute US officials.
A 2002 law authorises the Pentagon to liberate any American or US ally held by the court. In 2020, Trump sanctioned chief prosecutor Karim Khan’s predecessor, Fatou Bensouda, over her decision to open an inquiry into war crimes committed by all sides, including the US, in Afghanistan.
However, those sanctions were lifted under former President Joe Biden, and the US began to tepidly cooperate with the tribunal — especially after Khan in 2023 charged Russian president, Vladimir Putin, with war crimes in Ukraine.
Rights activists says ICC sanctions will have a 'chilling' effect
Human rights activists have said that sanctioning court officials would have a chilling effect and run counter to US interests in other conflict zones where the court is investigating, writes the Associated Press.
“Victims of human rights abuses around the world turn to the International Criminal Court when they have nowhere else to go, and President Trump’s executive order will make it harder for them to find justice,” said Charlie Hogle, staff attorney with American Civil Liberties Union’s National Security Project.
“The order also raises serious First Amendment concerns because it puts people in the United States at risk of harsh penalties for helping the court identify and investigate atrocities committed anywhere, by anyone.”
Hogle said the order “is an attack on both accountability and free speech.”
“You can disagree with the court and the way it operates, but this is beyond the pale,” Sarah Yager, Washington director of Human Rights Watch, said in an interview prior to the announcement.
The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said on Thursday that while an Israeli ban has not yet forced the agency to cease operations, it faces an “existential threat” in the long run.
“I have been very clear that despite all the obstacles and the pressure the agency is under, our objective is to stay and deliver until we are prevented to do so,” Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general of the UN Relief and Works Agency, also known as UNRWA, said in an interview with The Associated Press during a visit to Beirut.
Israel last week formally banned UNRWA from operating on its territory. As a result, Lazzarini said, international staff have had to leave East Jerusalem because their visas expired, but in Gaza and the West Bank there has been no immediate impact on operations.
Even in East Jerusalem, he said, health care and other services provided by UNRWA “are continuing, though not necessarily at the same scope it used to be.”
UNRWA is also likely to face increased pressure from the United States under the new Trump administration, with the US leader this week proposing to “take ownership” of Gaza.
Israel says it struck two Hezbollah targets in Lebanon despite ceasefire
Israel said late on Thursday it had struck two sites in Lebanon that allegedly contained weapons of the Hezbollah group, in violation of a ceasefire deal, according to a report by Agence France-Presse.
Israeli forces “conducted a precise strike in Lebanese territory on two military sites that contained Hezbollah weapons, which were in violation of the ceasefire agreement,” the army said in a post on X.
Donald Trump has signed an executive order authorizing sanctions against individuals and their families who assist the international criminal court (ICC), accusing the body of “illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel”.
It was unclear how quickly the Trump administration would announce names of people sanctioned.
The signing of the order coincides with Netanyahu’s visit to the US Capitol, which included an Oval Office meeting earlier this week.
Trump has been a vocal critic of the ICC since it issued arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his former defense minister Yoav Gallant last November for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, along with several Hamas leaders simultaneously.
Trump has previously argued that the ICC had “no jurisdiction, no legitimacy and no authority” in the US during his first term as president.
Updated
Summary of the day so far
It’s 1am in Gaza and Tel Aviv, and 6pm in Washington. Here’s a recap of the latest developments:
Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing sanctions on the international criminal court (ICC). The order accuses the ICC of having “engaged in illegitimate and baseless actions” targeting the US and its “close ally” Israel, and said the court “abused its power” by issuing “baseless” arrest warrants targeting Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and its former defense minister, Yoav Gallant.
Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, ordered the military to prepare plans to allow Palestinians “who wish to leave” Gaza to exit. Asked who should take the residents of Gaza, Katz said it should be countries who have opposed Israel’s military operations since the 7 October attacks. He also claimed that Spain, Ireland, and Norway, who all last year recognised a Palestinian state, are “legally obligated to allow any Gaza resident to enter their territories”.
Trump doubled down on its Gaza proposal amid widespread opposition. In a Truth Social post, Trump said the Palestinian territory would be “turned over” to the US by Israel after it concludes its military offensive against Hamas. Netanyahu, who is in Washington, said it is “worth listening carefully” to Trump’s proposal.
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said Palestinians in Gaza are “going to have to live somewhere else in the interim”. Rubio described Gaza as “not habitable”, in comments that appeared to walk back on Trump’s proposal about transferring Palestinians permanently to neighbouring countries. Rubio is reportedly planning to visit the Middle East later this month.
The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) warned that the agency faces an “existential threat” after Israel formally banned it from operating on its territory. Philippe Lazzarini also described Trump’s Gaza proposal as “totally unrealistic”, adding: “We are talking about forced displacement. Forced displacement is a crime, an international crime. It’s ethnic cleansing.”
Countries around the world continued to come out in opposition to Trump’s plan to turn Gaza into a “Riviera of the Middle East” after the 2.3 million Palestinians living there were transferred to other countries. Trump’s proposal would “squash” the ceasefire and “incite a return of fighting”, Egypt’s foreign ministry said. Russia called Trump’s proposal “counterproductive” and accused him of fuelling “tension in the region”. China’s foreign ministry said Beijing opposed the forced transfer of people in Gaza. Pakistan said Trump’s plan was “deeply troubling and unjust”, adding that “Palestinian land belongs to Palestinian people”. Iran said it “categorically rejected and condemned” Trump’s proposal.
Human Rights Watch warned that the Trump’s proposal could move the US “from being complicit in war crimes to direct perpetration of atrocities”. Forced or coerced displacement is a crime against humanity, illegal under the Geneva conventions, to which Israel and the US are signatories. “Governments should together make clear their strong opposition to Trump’s call for forced displacement in Gaza and take action to prevent further atrocities against the Palestinian people,” HRW Middle East and North Africa director Lama Fakih said.
At least 47,583 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli attacks since October 2023, according to the Palestinian health ministry on Thursday. The ministry’s latest daily update also said a total of 111,633 have now been injured.
Israel informed the United Nations human rights council (UNHRC) it is formally withdrawing from the body. Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Saar, said the decision was reached “in light of the ongoing and unrelenting institutional bias against Israel in the human rights council.”
Updated
As we reported earlier, the international criminal court (ICC) has been bracing itself for US sanctions since Donald Trump’s inauguration last month.
Trump has been a vocal critic of the ICC since it issued arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his former defense minister Yoav Gallant last November for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, along with several Hamas leaders simultaneously.
At the time, the ICC said it had found reasonable grounds to believe that Netanyahu and Gallant “bear criminal responsibility for … the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts”.
In addition, the three-judge panel said there were reasonable grounds to believe they bear criminal responsibility “as civilian superiors for the war crime of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population”.
The ICC relies on 125 member states of the Rome statute to execute arrest warrants. Neither Israel nor the US are members.
Updated
Donald Trump’s executive order warns that the US will impose “tangible” and “significant” consequences on individuals who work on ICC investigations of US citizens or US allies, such as Israel.
The sanctions include freezing any US assets of those designated and barring them, or their families from entering the US.
Updated
Trump signs executive order imposing US sanctions on international criminal court
Donald Trump has signed an executive order sanctioning the international criminal court (ICC), the White House has confirmed.
The order accuses the ICC of having “engaged in illegitimate and baseless actions” targeting the US and its “close ally” Israel, and said the court has “abused its power” by issuing “baseless” arrest warrants targeting Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and its former defense minister, Yoav Gallant. The order states:
The ICC has no jurisdiction over the United States or Israel, as neither country is party to the Rome Statute or a member of the ICC.
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Netanyahu says 'worth listening carefully to' Trump's Gaza plan
Benjamin Netanyahu said it is “worth listening carefully” to Donald Trump’s proposal for the US to take control of the Gaza Strip.
Netanyahu, in a video statement from Washington DC, described the US president’s plan as “the first original idea that has come up in years”.
The Israeli prime minister also spoke about his recent meeting with US congressional and Senate leaders, during which he said: “Everyone expressed enormous appreciation for Israel’s great achievements.”
“I said that we are changing the face of the Middle East, and they simply saluted that,” he added.
Updated
Trump signs order on international criminal court - report
US president Donald Trump has reportedly now signed an executive order sanctioning the international criminal court (ICC), accusing the body of “improperly targeting” the United States and its allies, such as Israel.
The Reuters news agency has published the headline and cited an unnamed White House official. We’ll bring you more details as soon as possible.
Updated
Donald Trump’s efforts to slash and reshape American foreign aid is crippling the intricate global system that aims to prevent and respond to famine.
In a wider context than Israel’s war in Gaza, the international famine monitoring and relief system has suffered multiple blows from a sudden cessation of US foreign aid, Reuters reports.
The spending freeze is supposed to last 90 days while his administration reviews all foreign-aid programs.
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has said an exception allows emergency food assistance to continue.
But much of that emergency aid is at least temporarily halted, compounded by Trump’s move this week to shut the US Agency for International Development (USaid).
About 500,000 metric tons of food worth $340m is in limbo, said Marcia Wong, a former senior USaid official who has been briefed on the situation.
US-provided cash assistance intended to help people buy food and other necessities in Sudan and Gaza also has been halted, aid workers told Reuters.
Updated
The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) has called on the international community to help feed millions of Palestinians in Gaza and rebuild the territory.
The UN agency has provided more than 15,000 tonnes of food to feed more than 525,000 people since a fragile 19 January ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into effect, WFP’s deputy executive director Carl Skau said, according to Agence-France-Presse.
“We call on the international community and all donors to continue supporting WFP’s life-saving assistance at this pivotal moment,” Skau said in a statement after his visit to Gaza.
The scale of the needs is enormous and progress must be maintained. The ceasefire must hold.
“In critical sectors beyond food - water, sanitation, shelter, even getting children back into school - we need to work together,” he added.
Palestinians 'going to have to live somewhere else in the interim' under Trump's Gaza plan, says Rubio
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said it is a “realistic reality” to expect Palestinians in Gaza to “live somewhere else in the interim”.
Rubio, taking questions during a press conference in the Dominican Republican, described Gaza as “not habitable”.
“Gaza right now has unexploded munitions, lots of rockets and weapons,” he said, adding:
I think that’s just a realistic reality, that in order to fix a place like that, people are going to have to live somewhere else in the interim.
Donald Trump’s top officials, including Rubio and the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, have appeared to walk back on some of the US president’s proposals about transferring Palestinians permanently to neighbouring countries.
Rubio encouraged other countries in the region to “step forward and provide a solution and an answer to that problem”.
Rubio to make first visit to Middle East in mid-February - report
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, is planning to visit the Middle East in mid-February, Axios reports.
Rubio is planning to travel to the region after the Munich security conference, which begins on 14 February, the outlet says, citing sources.
Rubio reportedly plans to visit Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and possibly more countries.
Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly gave Donald Trump a “golden pager” during their meeting in Washington DC this week, in an apparent reference to Israel’s deadly attack against Hezbollah in Lebanon last year.
In photos circulating online, the golden pager can be seen mounted on a piece of wood, accompanied by a golden plaque that reads in black lettering: “To President Donald J. Trump, Our greatest friend and greatest ally. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.”
Israeli media reported that the Israeli prime minister, who is wanted by the international criminal court for war crimes, also gave the US president a regular pager.
The gift was reportedly a nod to Israel’s deadly operation last September against Hezbollah, during which thousands of handheld pager beeper devices and walkie-talkies belonging to Hezbollah detonated simultaneously across Lebanon.
The explosions killed at least 37 people, including children as young as nine years old, and left thousands wounded.
Netanyahu told US war could end if Hamas leaders go into exile - report
Benjamin Netanyahu, during his meetings in Washington, presented a plan for ending the war in Gaza in return for Hamas giving up power and its leaders leaving the Palestinian territory, Axios reports.
Netanyahu told US officials that he wants to extend the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal in order to release more hostages, the outlet said, citing sources. In exchange for additional hostages, Israel would be ready to release more Palestinian prisoners, it said.
The report said Netanyahu indicated that if the first phase is extended, he plans to present Hamas with a proposal that includes ending the war in Gaza and releasing “senior” Palestinian prisoners.
In return, Netanyahu would demand that Hamas releases the remaining hostages, relinquish power in the Gaza Strip and that its senior leaders, including those who will be released from prison, would go into exile, the report said. A US source said:
Bibi and Israeli leadership have articulated a plan that includes allowing senior Hamas leadership to go into exile in a third-party country.
If Hamas relinquishes power and its leaders go into exile, it could open the door for a day-after plan, possibly including Donald Trump’s proposal for the US to “take over” Gaza, according to the report.
Updated
Benjamin Netanyahu has been meeting with the US Senate leadership on Thursday as part of the Israeli prime minister’s visit to Washington.
Netanyahu was welcomed “with much esteem” and the Senate leadership “expressed unqualified support for the prime minister and the State of Israel and commended Israel’s achievements in the war,” according to Netanyahu’s office.
Describing the meeting as “warm and friendly”, Netanyahu’s office said he “clarified Israel’s position, and said that Iran had to be prevented from attaining nuclear weapons and that Hamas had to be eliminated in Gaza.”
“The bipartisan Senate leadership agreed with these positions,” it said.
In addition, the Senate leaders also committed to passing a law against the international criminal court (ICC), it said.
As we reported earlier, Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order later today sanctioning the ICC for targeting the US and its allies, such as Israel.
UNRWA's future 'dire', says chief as he calls Trump's Gaza proposal 'an international crime'
The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) warned that the agency faces an “existential threat” after Israel formally banned it from operating on its territory.
International staff working for Unrwa have been forced to leave East Jerusalem because of the Israeli ban, but operations in Gaza and the West Bank have not been immediately impacted, the UN agency’s commissioner general, Philippe Lazzarini, told Associated Press.
Unrwa is also likely to face increased pressure from the US under the new Trump administration. Earlier this week, Donald Trump signed an executive order stopping future funding for Unrwa, which had already been suspended under Joe Biden’s administration.
Lazzarini called Trump’s proposal to take over Gaza as “totally unrealistic”, adding:
We are talking about forced displacement. Forced displacement is a crime, an international crime. It’s ethnic cleansing.
International outrage in recent days has focused on Donald Trump’s proposal that the US take “ownership” of Gaza, and that more than two million Palestinians be displaced to allow the territory to be transformed from “a demolition site” into a “riviera” in the Middle East.
In Jordan and Egypt, the demand that both countries accept huge numbers of Palestinians from Gaza – potentially on a permanent basis – has prompted equal concern.
Leaders of both countries immediately rejected the proposal, and the Jordanian king, Abdullah II, and Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, the Egyptian president, are heading for Washington in an attempt to convince Trump to change course.
“They are terrified that an Israeli policy of population transfer will actually become real,” said Neil Quilliam, an associate fellow of the Middle East programme at the Chatham House thinktank in London.
But Abdullah and Sisi know too that they are vulnerable to Trump’s trademark transactional style of geopolitics as their countries’ economies and security depend heavily on huge levels of US aid and trade.
Read the full story: ‘Worst nightmare’: Egypt and Jordan put in impossible bind by Trump Gaza plan
Israel may not send a delegation to negotiations on the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal in Doha on Friday, according to a report.
Earlier this week, Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel was preparing to send a high-level delegation to the Qatari capital to discuss continued implementation of the deal.
But according to the Times of Israel, citing an Israeli outlet, Israel will not necessarily send a delegation to Doha. A delegation, if one does leave for Qatar, will be a working-level team.
On Wednesday, a Hamas spokesperson said talks have started on the second phase of the ceasefire deal.
The first phase of the ceasefire went into effect on 19 January and involved a halt to fighting, the release of some of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas and the freeing of some Palestinian prisoners. A second phase is intended to focus on agreements on the release of the remaining hostages and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.
The international criminal court (ICC), preparing itself for Donald Trump to launch aggressive financial and travel restrictions against it, has taken measures to shield staff from possible US sanctions.
The court has been paying its staff salaries three months in advance, Reuters reports.
In December, the court’s president, judge Tomoko Akane, warned that sanctions would “rapidly undermine the court’s operations in all situations and cases, and jeopardise its very existence.”
Päivi Kaukoranta, president of the ICC’s governing body, said sanctions risked severely hampering the court’s investigations and could “affect the safety of victims, witnesses and sanctioned individuals”.
Core services that would be jeopardised by institutional sanctions include the ICC’s access to banking and payment systems, IT infrastructure and insurance providers. Such measures would prevent US-based companies from conducting business or transactions with the court.
Trump to sign executive order sanctioning international criminal court - reports
Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Thursday sanctioning the international criminal court (ICC) for targeting the US and its allies, such as Israel, according to multiple reports.
The order will reportedly place financial and visa sanctions on individuals and their family members who assist in ICC investigations of US citizens or allies.
Since Trump’s inauguration on 20 January, ICC officials have been bracing themselves for draconian financial and travel restrictions against, in response to ICC arrest warrants in November against the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his former defence minister, Yoav Gallant, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Last week, US Senate Democrats blocked a Republican-led effort to sanction the ICC. The court previously dealt with US sanctions in 2020 when the first Trump administration imposed travel bans and asset freezes against former prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, and one of her top officials.
Human Rights Watch said Donald Trump’s proposal to displace Palestinians and take over Gaza could move the US “from being complicit in war crimes to direct perpetration of atrocities”.
“Much of the destruction in Gaza reflects a calculated Israeli policy to make parts of the strip unlivable,” said HRW Middle East and North Africa director Lama Fakih.
Standing beside prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose government was responsible for this policy and is wanted for atrocity crimes by the international criminal court, President Donald Trump suggested displacing Palestinians on an even larger scale and ‘taking over’ Gaza as potential US policy in light of the destruction in Gaza. It would move the US from being complicit in war crimes to direct perpetration of atrocities.
“Governments should together make clear their strong opposition to Trump’s call for forced displacement in Gaza and take action to prevent further atrocities against the Palestinian people,” she added.
Donald Trump’s proposal to take over the Gaza Strip and relocate the territory’s Palestinian population would, implemented, amount to “ethnic cleansing”, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has warned.
HRW deputy Middle East director Adam Coogle described Trump’s plan as “very concerning”. “If done with intent, it would be forced displacement,” he said.
If that forced displacement was done as part of a systematic and widespread attack against the civilian population as a matter of state policy, it would actually be a crime against humanity.
The term “ethnic cleansing” refers to the forcible expulsion of a civilian population of an ethnic group from a certain area.
International humanitarian law prohibits the permanent forced displacement of the population of an occupied territory.
When such forced displacement is carried out with criminal intent, it is a war crime.
If carried out as part of widespread or systematic attack on the civilian population, reflecting state policy, it is a crime against humanity.
Updated
Summary
It’s 6pm in London, 1pm in Washington, and 8pm in Gaza City and Tel Aviv. In case you missed anything, here’s a quick round-up of the day so far.
Israeli defence minister Israel Katz ordered his country’s military to prepare a plan to allow the “voluntary departure” of residents from the Gaza Strip. It comes after President Trump proposed that the US should take control of and redevelop the territory.
Asked who should take the residents of Gaza, Katz said it should be countries who have opposed Israel’s military operations since the 7 October attacks. He also claimed that Spain, Ireland, and Norway, who all last year recognised a Palestinian state, are “legally obligated to allow any Gaza resident to enter their territories”.
The Palestinian president’s office said the Palestinian territories were “not for sale” and “not an investment project”. Palestinian news agency Wafa quoted a statement that read: “The rights of the Palestinian people are not negotiable and are not a bargaining chip.”
Countries around the world continued to come out in opposition to the proposal. UK foreign office minister Anneliese Dodds told parliament: “There must be no forced displacement of Palestinians nor any reduction in the territory of the Gaza Strip.”
Hamas called for an “emergency summit” of Arab countries to address the proposal. “We do not need any country to run the Gaza Strip and we do not accept replacing one occupation with another,” it said.
Egypt, one of the destinations Trump has proposed for displaced Gazans, said the plan would “squash” the ongoing ceasefire and “incite a return of fighting”. It added that the move would have “catastrophic consequences”.
The death toll in Gaza since the Israeli ground invasion began after the 7 October attacks now stands at 47,583, according to the Palestinian health ministry. The ministry’s latest daily update also said a total of 111,633 have now been injured.
Stay with us for more updates on the latest from the Middle East.
Updated
President Trump’s proposal to resettle people from Gaza in Jordan could undermine the country’s national security and is not something it can entertain, officials and former officials in the Jordanian government have said.
King Abdullah II of Jordan is due to travel to Washington for talks with Trump next week.
One senior official told Reuters the king had made a series of calls to gather support from regional players Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar ahead of the meeting.
“This is the biggest test in ties with our strategic ally,” the official said.
One official added: “We hope we won’t see thousands of Palestinians streaming across the border trying to enter the Kingdom but we are prepared.
“Jordan will always be ready to do whatever it needs to protect its national security.”
Marwan Muasher is a former Jordanian foreign minister who helped negotiate Jordan’s 1994 peace treaty with Israel.
“This is existential,” he said. “There is very strong public opposition, and it’s not something Jordan can entertain.
“This is not an economic or a security issue for Jordan. It’s an identity issue.”
Updated
King Abdullah II of Jordan is in London and has met with King Charles at Buckingham Palace.
It comes at a time of increased international focus on Jordan following President Trump’s proposal that residents of Gaza could be resettled in the country.
Pictures show the two kings embracing at the start of the meeting, which Jordan’s Petra news agency said was used to discuss historic ties between their kingdoms.
King Abdullah is set to travel to Washington for talks with Trump next week.
Death toll in Gaza now 47,583, says Palestinian health ministry
The number of people killed in Gaza since the Israeli ground invasion began after the 7 October attacks now stands at 47,583, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The ministry’s latest daily update also said a total of 111,633 have now been injured.
Last week, Christian Lindmeier, a spokesperson for the World Health Organisation, said the agency considered the ministry’s figures reliable, adding that the tallies only included casualties counted in officials facilities like hospitals and so were probably an underestimate.
“As people go back to their houses, as they will start looking for their loved ones under the rubble, this casualty figure is expected to increase,” she said.
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“They make a desert and call it peace,” said Tacitus, paraphrasing Calgacus.
Israel, meanwhile, has made a graveyard of Gaza, and Donald Trump is calling it a real estate opportunity. The president, as you will know, has decided the US should just take over the Gaza Strip.
As for the Palestinians who are inconveniently there at the moment? According to Trump, they can just be moved somewhere else. They can be dumped in Jordan or Egypt or Saudi Arabia. They won’t mind. Those Arabs are all the same anyway.
The fact that the president is being so blunt, so open, about what he wants to do is shocking. But the idea that the US and Israel might want to get rid of all the Palestinians in the strip should hardly come as a shock to anyone.
This, after all, is in effect what Israel’s politicians and pundits, along with Israel’s supporters, have been saying all along: they want to make Gaza unliveable and get all the Palestinians out.
Read Arwa Mahdawi’s full piece here:
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Trump plan would 'squash' ceasefire, says Egypt
Trump’s proposal for the US to take control of Gaza would “squash” the ceasefire and “incite a return of fighting”, Egypt has said.
The plan Trump has put forward would involve some of Gaza’s roughly two million residents being displaced into Egypt, which shares a border with the territory.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has ordered the country’s military to prepare a plan to allow for the “voluntary departure” of people from Gaza, local media reported.
Apparently referring to the order, Egypt’s foreign ministry said: “Egypt stresses the catastrophic consequences of this irresponsible act which weakens the ceasefire negotiations, and would squash them and incite a return of fighting.”
Egypt, along with Qatar and the US, helped broker the ceasefire deal that brought a halt to the fighting in Gaza last month.
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Russia has called President Trump’s proposal for Gaza “counterproductive” and accused him of fuelling “tension in the region”.
“The main thing now is to provide the necessary humanitarian assistance to all those in need,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters.
“We believe that the main task today is to ensure the implementation of agreements between Israel and Hamas.
“Any populist, frivolous, or shocking arguments about any other palliative measures at the present stage are counterproductive and do not contribute to solving the problem, but only fuel tension in the region and to all the already extremely aggravated problems.”
Zakharova has become known to Western audiences in recent years as one of the Russian government’s most public defenders of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Updated
We have more now on that call from Hamas for a summit of Arab countries in response to President Trump’s proposal for the US to take control of Gaza.
In a statement, spokesman Hazem Qassem called the plan “absolutely unacceptable”.
“Gaza is for its people and they will not leave,” he said.
“We call for the convening of an emergency Arab summit to confront the displacement project.”
He said Trump’s remarks “amount to an open declaration of intent to occupy the territory”.
“We do not need any country to run the Gaza Strip and we do not accept replacing one occupation with another,” he said.
“We call on the Arab peoples and international organisations to take strong action to reject the Trump project.”
Earlier today, Trump doubled down on the proposal, saying the residents of Gaza could be “resettled in far safer and more beautiful communities, with new and modern homes, in the region” and would “actually have a chance to be happy, safe, and free”.
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An envoy for President Trump is expected to demand that the influence of Hezbollah over the new Lebanese government be curbed.
Morgan Ortagus, deputy special envoy for the Middle East, is leading a US delegation to Lebanon and is set to meet with the country’s leaders on Thursday.
She will tell them Lebanon faces deeper political and economic isolation unless it works to eliminate corruption and limit the influence of Hezbollah, Reuters reports, citing a senior US official, a Western diplomat, and regional government sources.
Senior posts in the Lebanese government are apportioned between the country’s religious communities.
Prime Minister-designate Nawaf Salam is currently forming a new government, and has so far allowed Hezbollah, which with its allies holds a significant number of parliamentary seats, to nominate four out of five allotted Shia ministers.
Hezbollah, which has long fought with Israel across Lebanon’s southern border, has suffered heavy losses in Israeli strikes in recent months, including the assassination of much of its leadership.
The US official insisted that Washington was not “picking” individual cabinet members, but added: “It’s important for us to set the tone for what we believe a new Lebanon should look like going forward.
“It’s a new day for Lebanon. Hezbollah was defeated, and the new government needs to match that new reality.”
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Hamas calls for Arab summit over Trump Gaza plan
Hamas has called for an urgent summit of the Arab countries following President Trump’s proposal that the US should “take over” Gaza.
The group, which led the 7 October attacks, earlier said it “categorically rejects” the proposal.
We’ll bring you more on that as it comes in.
Updated
Summary of the day so far
It is approaching 4.30pm in Gaza City and Tel Aviv, and 6pm in Tehran. Here is a summary of the day so far:
Israeli defence minister Israel Katz ordered the army on Thursday to prepare a plan to allow the “voluntary departure” of residents from the Gaza Strip, Israeli media reported. The instruction followed US president Donald Trump’s shock announcement that the US plans to take over Gaza, resettle the Palestinians living there and transform the territory into the “Riviera of the Middle East”.
When asked who will take in the Palestinians, Katz said it should be countries who have opposed Israel’s military operations in Gaza. Katz added Spain, Ireland and Norway, which last year recognised a Palestinian state, are “legally obligated to allow any Gaza resident to enter their territories”.
Spain’s foreign minister José Manuel Albares on Thursday rejected the suggestion by Katz that Spain should accept displaced Palestinians from Gaza. “Gazans’ land is Gaza and Gaza must be part of the future Palestinian state,” Albares said in an interview with Spanish radio station RNE.
Speaking on behalf of the Palestinian president’s office, spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh said Palestinian territories were “not for sale” and “not an investment project”. According to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, he said:“Palestine, with its land, history and holy sites, is not for sale, and is not an investment project. The rights of the Palestinian people are not negotiable and are not a bargaining chip.”
Trump said the “Gaza Strip would be turned over to the United States by Israel at the conclusion of fighting”, in a post on the Truth Social platform on Thursday. He said the US would work with “great development teams from all over the world” and “would slowly and carefully begin the construction of what would become one of the greatest and most spectacular developments of its kind on Earth”. He added: “No soldiers by the US would be needed.”
Hamas called on all Palestinian factions to unite against Trump’s proposal. Hamas added that it “categorically rejects” Trump’s remarks and Palestinians will not leave Gaza.
Far-right Israeli politicians supported Katz’s orders for the army to prepare a plan to allow the “voluntary departure” of residents from the Gaza Strip, reported the Times of Israel. Finance minister Bezalel Smotrich congratulated Katz on instructing the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and rival far-right leader Itamar Ben-Gvir called Katz’s orders an “important step”.
UK Foreign Office minister Anneliese Dodds told parliament on Thursday that the UK will oppose any efforts to move Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to neighbouring Arab states against their will. Replying to an urgent question, Dodds told the House of Commons: “There must be no forced displacement of Palestinians nor any reduction in the territory of the Gaza Strip.”
Dodds said the UK government was also “concerned” about the Israeli government’s “expansion of war aims and operations” in the West Bank. She said: “The UK remains opposed to illegal settlements, their expansion and settler violence.”
Pakistan’s government said that Trump’s proposal to displace the people of Gaza is “deeply troubling and unjust”. It added that “Palestinian land belongs to Palestinian people” and the only viable and just option would be a two-state solution.
Iran categorically rejected Trump’s proposal to relocate Palestinians from Gaza, foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said on Thursday. “The plan to clear Gaza and relocate Palestinians to neighbouring countries is considered a continuation of the Zionist regime’s (Israel) plan to completely wipe out the Palestinian people,” Baghaei wrote on X. Baghaei called upon the UN security council and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to take a clear stance explicitly rejecting Trump’s announcement.
China’s foreign ministry said on Thursday that Beijing opposed the forced transfer of people in Gaza. “Gaza is the Gaza of Palestinians, not a political bargaining chip, let alone the target of a law of the jungle,” ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told a regular press briefing.
Hezbollah and its allied group the Amal Movement issued a joint statement in which they condemned what they described as the “racist” and “malicious” statements by US president Donald Trump over Gaza, reported Lebanon’s National News Agency.
Malaysia said on Thursday it “strongly opposes” any plan to forcibly resettle Palestinians from Gaza. “Malaysia strongly opposes any proposal that could lead to the forced displacement or movement of Palestinians from their homeland,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
Israel informed the United Nations human rights council (UNHRC) on Thursday that it would be formally withdrawing from the body. In a message posted to social media, foreign minister Gideon Saar said: “The decision was reached in light of the ongoing and unrelenting institutional bias against Israel in the human rights council, which has been persistent since its inception in 2006.” Donald Trump confirmed earlier this week he was withdrawing the US from the United Nations human rights council, as he had done so during his first term in office.
The United Nations special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories said on Thursday that Israel’s decision to withdraw from the UN human rights council was “extremely serious”. “It shows the hubris and the lack of realisation of what they have done. They insist in self-righteousness, that they have nothing to be held accountable for, and they are proving it to the entire international community,” Francesca Albanese told Reuters.
An Israeli military court sentenced a soldier to seven months in prison after he admitted to “severely abusing” Palestinians at a detention facility near the border with Gaza, the army said on Thursday. “The defendant was convicted for several incidents in which he punched the detainees with his fists and used his weapon while they were handcuffed and blindfolded,” the army said in a statement.
The healthcare system in the occupied West Bank has been in “a state of perpetual emergency” since October 2023, Doctors Without Borders said in a new report published on Thursday. “A dramatic escalation in violence, marked by prolonged Israeli military incursions and stricter movement restrictions … have severely hindered access to essential services, particularly healthcare, exacerbating already dire living conditions for many Palestinians,” it said.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said its teams are providing relief support to families in the Tulkarm refugee camp. In a post on X on Thursday, the PRCS said: “Our teams continue to provide relief support to the families in #Tulkarm camp, despite the ongoing siege by the occupation for the tenth consecutive day, amid systematic destruction of infrastructure, including roads and streets.”
Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian said it would be easy to verify Iran was not developing atomic weapons, state TV reported on Thursday, a day after US president Donald Trump said he would like to have a verified nuclear peace agreement with Tehran. Iran is not seeking a nuclear weapon as the mass killing of innocent people is prohibited in the Islamic Republic’s doctrine, Pezeshkian said in a televised meeting with foreign ambassadors in Tehran.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards unveiled the country’s first drone carrier on Thursday in Gulf waters, state media reported. The carrier, called the Martyr Bahman Bagheri, is a commercial vessel that was repurposed as a drone carrier over the past two-and-a-half years, Guards naval commander Alireza Tangsiri said during the unveiling ceremony.
Updated
Israeli soldier jailed for seven months for abusing Palestinian detainees
An Israeli military court sentenced a soldier to seven months in prison after he admitted to “severely abusing” Palestinians at a detention facility near the border with Gaza, the army said on Thursday.
“The defendant was convicted for several incidents in which he punched the detainees with his fists and used his weapon while they were handcuffed and blindfolded,” the army said in a statement, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Hamas has called on all Palestinian factions to unite against US president Donald Trump’s proposal, reports Reuters.
Hamas added that it “categorically rejects” Trump’s remarks and Palestinians will not leave Gaza.
Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian said it would be easy to verify Iran was not developing atomic weapons, state TV reported on Thursday, a day after US president Donald Trump said he would like to have a verified nuclear peace agreement with Tehran.
Iran is not seeking a nuclear weapon as the mass killing of innocent people is prohibited in the Islamic Republic’s doctrine, Pezeshkian said in a televised meeting with foreign ambassadors in Tehran, reports Reuters.
“Verifying [our nuclear programme] is an easy task, they have come and verified every time they wanted to do so and they can come verify a hundred more times,” Pezeshkian said.
Trump said on Wednesday he would like to have a verified nuclear peace agreement with Iran. During his previous term in office in 2018, Trump pulled the United States out of Tehran’s 2015 nuclear pact with world powers and reimposed sanctions that have crippled the country’s economy. The harsh measures prompted Tehran to violate the pact’s nuclear limitations, reports Reuters.
Pezeshkian’s comments come a day after a senior Iranian official told Reuters Iran is ready to give the US a chance to resolve disputes.
Updated
The United Nations special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories said on Thursday that Israel’s decision to withdraw from the UN human rights council was “extremely serious”.
“It shows the hubris and the lack of realisation of what they have done. They insist in self-righteousness, that they have nothing to be held accountable for, and they are proving it to the entire international community,” Francesca Albanese told Reuters.
Israel announces it will withdraw from UN human rights council
Israel has informed the United Nations human rights council (UNHRC) it is formally withdrawing from the body.
In a message posted to social media, Reuters reports foreign minister Gideon Saar said “The decision was reached in light of the ongoing and unrelenting institutional bias against Israel in the human rights council, which has been persistent since its inception in 2006.”
Early in the Israel-Gaza conflict the UNHRC said that “there is already clear evidence that war crimes may have been committed in the latest explosion of violence in Israel and Gaza.”
Donald Trump confirmed earlier this week he was withdrawing the US from the United Nations human rights council, as he had done so during his first term in office.
This post has been amended to clarify confusion between the OHCHR and the UNHRC
Updated
Lebanon’s National News Agency reports that Hezbollah and its allied group the Amal Movement have issued a joint statement in which they condemn what they describe as the “racist” and “malicious” statements by US president Donald Trump over Gaza.
The news agency quotes the statement saying the two groups “denounced the racist statements of the American president regarding the displacement of the Palestinian people from their land, and considered that these statements indicate the malicious intentions of the American administration and the Israeli entity to eliminate the Palestinian cause … this project will be confronted by all available means by the Arab and Islamic peoples and the free people of the world.”
Updated
Palestinian president's office: Palestinian territories are 'not for sale' and 'not an investment project'
Speaking on behalf of the Palestinian president’s office, spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh has said Palestinian territories are “not for sale” and “not an investment project.”
Palestinian news agency Wafa quotes him saying “Palestine, with its land, history and holy sites, is not for sale, and is not an investment project. The rights of the Palestinian people are not negotiable and are not a bargaining chip.”
He said that the Palestinian people “will not give up an inch of their land, whether in the Gaza Strip or the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the capital of the state of Palestine.”
He continued, adding “The Palestinian people and their leadership will not allow the repetition of the catastrophes of 1948 and 1967, and will thwart any plan aimed at liquidating their just cause through investment projects.”
Trump says Gaza Strip would be 'turned over' to the US by Israel 'at conclusion of fighting'
In his latest post on the Truth Social platform, Donald Trump said the “Gaza Strip would be turned over to the United States by Israel at the conclusion of fighting”.
On Thursday, the US president wrote:
The Palestinians, people like Chuck Schumer, would have already been resettled in far safer and more beautiful communities, with new and modern homes, in the region. They would actually have a chance to be happy, safe, and free.
The US, working with great development teams from all over the World, would slowly and carefully begin the construction of what would become one of the greatest and most spectacular developments of its kind on Earth. No soldiers by the US would be needed! Stability for the region would reign!!!”
Earlier this week Trump said, in a shock announcement, that the US will “take over” and “own” the Gaza Strip. The US president said he envisioned a “long-term” US ownership of the territory after all Palestinians were moved elsewhere. He did not explain how and under what authority the US can take over the land of Gaza.
'There must be no forced displacement of Palestinians', says UK Foreign Office minister
The PA news agency has more details on the comments by UK Foreign Office minister Anneliese Dodds, who told parliament that the UK will oppose any efforts to move Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to neighbouring Arab states against their will.
Dodds issued a clear rejection of a proposal from US president Donald Trump for the United States to consider taking ownership of the Gaza Strip.
Replying to an urgent question, Dodds told the House of Commons:
Palestinians must determine the future of Gaza with support from regional states and the wider international community.
We would oppose any effort to move Palestinians in Gaza to neighbouring Arab states against their will. There must be no forced displacement of Palestinians nor any reduction in the territory of the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian civilians should be able to return to and rebuild their homes and their lives – that is a right guaranteed under international law.
Gaza is home to two million Palestinians and remains an integral part of what must become a future Palestinian state, with Palestinians living next to Israelis in peace and security.”
Dodds said the US had played a “critical” role in negotiating the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, adding:
We must now work together to ensure the ceasefire is implemented in full and becomes permanent.”
Dodds said the UK government is also “concerned” about the Israeli government’s “expansion of war aims and operations” in the West Bank. She said:
Stability is essential at this crucial time. We recognise Israel’s right to defend itself and the continuing threat posed by armed groups, but it must show restraint and ensure the scale and conduct of its operations are commensurate to the threat posed.
Civilians must be protected and the destruction of civilian infrastructure minimised.
The UK remains opposed to illegal settlements, their expansion and settler violence.”
In her concluding remarks, Dodds said:
Our attention must now turn to how we secure a permanently better future for the Israeli and Palestinian peoples, grounded – to reiterate the point a final time – in a two-state solution.”
Updated
Pakistan’s government has said that US president Donald Trump’s proposal to displace the people of Gaza is “deeply troubling and unjust”, reports Reuters.
It added that “Palestinian land belongs to Palestinian people” and the only viable and just option would be a two-state solution.
More details soon …
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, has called for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages on Wednesday.
Guterres warned against “any form of ethnic cleansing” in Gaza as he addressed the UN committee on the exercise of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, a day after Donald Trump announced plans for the US to take control of the strip and for Palestinians to be “resettled” in neighbouring countries.
“In the search for solutions, we must not make the problem worse,” Guterres said. He said that any durable peace will require “tangible, irreversible and permanent” progress toward the two-state solution as well as the establishment of an “independent Palestinian state with Gaza as an integral part”.
UK will oppose any effort to displace Palestinians, minister says
The UK will oppose any efforts to move Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to neighbouring Arab states against their will, a Foreign Office minister said on Thursday.
“There must be no forced displacement of Palestinians, nor any reduction in the territory of the Gaza Strip,” minister Anneliese Dodds told parliament, reports Reuters. Dodds said that Palestinians must determine the future of Gaza.
Updated
The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said its teams are providing relief support to families in the Tulkarm refugee camp. In a post on X on Thursday, the PRCS said:
Our teams continue to provide relief support to the families in #Tulkarm camp, despite the ongoing siege by the occupation for the tenth consecutive day, amid systematic destruction of infrastructure, including roads and streets.
We are making every effort to provide food, medicine, and emergency services to alleviate the suffering of our people during these difficult times.”
Far-right Israeli politicians support Katz's army orders to plan for 'voluntary' departures from Gaza
Far-right Israeli politicians have supported defence minister Israel Katz’s order to the army on Thursday to prepare a plan to allow the “voluntary departure” of residents from the Gaza Strip, reports the Times of Israel.
“I congratulate the defense minister on his decision to instruct the IDF to prepare to fulfill our role in the migration plan to allow the departure of Gazans from Gaza to receiving countries,” finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said, according to the publication. Smotrich added:
As we have been saying for many years, and even more so since the beginning of the war, there is no other realistic solution that will ensure peace and security for Israel and personal wellbeing for the residents of Gaza.”
Rival far-right leader Itamar Ben-Gvir called Katz’s orders an “important step, which recognizes that the real solution for Gaza is no longer dreams of ‘reconstruction’ and a return to the previous situation, but a fundamental change in reality”.
According to the Times of Israel, Ben Gvir called on the Israeli government “to move forward with determination, remove every bureaucratic obstacle, and ensure that this option becomes a reality as soon as possible”.
Updated
For today’s First Edition newsletter, Archie Bland talks to architect and researcher Eyal Weizman, who explains that Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal is an attempt to reshape political reality that has historical precedent.
You can read the newsletter here:
China says Gaza is not 'political bargaining chip'
China’s foreign ministry said on Thursday that Beijing opposed the forced transfer of people in Gaza, after US president Donald Trump proposed taking over the region, reports Reuters.
“Gaza is the Gaza of Palestinians, not a political bargaining chip, let alone the target of a law of the jungle,” ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told a regular press briefing.
China firmly supports the legitimate national rights of the Palestinian people, he added.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards unveiled the country’s first drone carrier on Thursday in Gulf waters, state media reported.
The carrier, called the Martyr Bahman Bagheri, is a commercial vessel that was repurposed as a drone carrier over the past two-and-a-half years, Guards naval commander Alireza Tangsiri said during the unveiling ceremony, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Described by Tangsiri as the “largest naval military project” in the history of the Islamic republic, the carrier is capable of launching long-range missiles in addition to carrying drones and helicopters. It is also equipped for electronic warfare, and can remain at sea for up to a year. According to the IRNA state news agency, the vessel has a capacity of 60 drones.
During the unveiling ceremony, Guards chief Hossein Salami emphasised that Iran did not seek to threaten others, “but we will not bow to the threat of any power”. He also stated that Iran “will not engage in any wars with the governments we recognise”.
The chief of the Iranian armed forces, Gen Mohammad Bagheri, who was also present at the ceremony, described the vessel as “a mobile base that can operate self-sufficiently throughout the world’s waters”, reports AFP.
Iran on Sunday unveiled a new ballistic missile it said was capable of reaching targets up to 1,700 kilometres (1,056 miles) away during a ceremony attended by Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian.
Here are some of the latest images via the newswires:
Spain rejects Israel's suggestion it should accept Palestinians from Gaza
Spain’s foreign minister José Manuel Albares on Thursday rejected the suggestion by Israeli defence minister Israel Katz that Spain should accept displaced Palestinians from Gaza.
“Gazans’ land is Gaza and Gaza must be part of the future Palestinian state,” Albares said in an interview with Spanish radio station RNE, reports Reuters.
Katz ordered the army on Thursday to prepare a plan to allow the “voluntary departure” of residents from the Gaza Strip, Israeli media reported. The instruction followed US president Donald Trump’s shock announcement that the United States plans to take over Gaza, resettle the Palestinians living there and transform the territory into the “Riviera of the Middle East”.
Katz added Spain, Ireland and Norway, which last year recognised a Palestinian state, are “legally obligated to allow any Gaza resident to enter their territories”.
Israel's defence minister says countries which opposed military operations in Gaza should take Palestinians leaving voluntarily
Reuters has more detail on Israeli defence minister Israel Katz’s latest comments.
“I welcome president Trump’s bold plan, Gaza residents should be allowed the freedom to leave and emigrate, as is the norm around the world,” Israel’s Channel 12 quoted Katz as saying.
Israel’s defence minister ordered the army on Thursday to prepare a plan to allow the “voluntary departure” of residents from Gaza, Israeli media said.
When asked who will take in the Palestinians, Katz said it should be countries who have opposed Israel’s military operations in Gaza. “Countries like Spain, Ireland, Norway, and others, which have levelled accusations and false claims against Israel over its actions in Gaza, are legally obligated to allow any Gaza resident to enter their territories,” he said.
He added:
Their hypocrisy will be exposed if they refuse to do so. There are countries like Canada, which has a structured immigration program, that have previously expressed a willingness to accept Gaza residents.”
Donald Trump’s controversial idea, which has sparked anger around the Middle East, comes as Israel and militant group Hamas are expected to begin talks on the second round of a fragile ceasefire plan to end almost 16 months of fighting in Gaza.
Katz’s plan will include exit options via land crossings, as well as special arrangements for departure by sea and air, Channel 12 reported.
Updated
Iran says Trump's Gaza proposal follows Israeli plans to 'wipe out' Palestinians
Iran categorically rejects a proposal by US president Donald Trump to relocate Palestinians from Gaza, foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said on Thursday.
“The plan to clear Gaza and relocate Palestinians to neighbouring countries is considered a continuation of the Zionist regime’s (Israel) plan to completely wipe out the Palestinian people,” Baghaei wrote on social media website X, according to Reuters.
“This idea is categorically rejected and condemned due to its clear contradiction with established principles and rules of international law and human rights,” Baghaei said in his statement.
Baghaei called upon the UN security council and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to take a clear stance explicitly rejecting Trump’s announcement.
On Wednesday, a senior Iranian official told Reuters that Tehran disagreed with any displacement of Palestinians in Gaza, but viewed this issue as a separate matter from potential Iran-US talks meant to lift sanctions in exchange for Iran curbing its nuclear programme.
Spain’s foreign minister José Manuel Albares on Thursday rejected the suggestion by Israeli defence minister Israel Katz that Spain should accept displaced Palestinians from Gaza.
More details soon …
Updated
Israel defence minister orders army to plan for 'voluntary' departures from Gaza
Israeli defence minister Israel Katz said Thursday that he had ordered the army to formulate a plan to allow Palestinians to leave Gaza, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“I have instructed the (army) to prepare a plan that would allow any Gaza resident who wishes to leave to do so, to any country willing to accept them,” he said. “The plan will include exit options through land crossings, as well as special arrangements for departure by sea and air.”
Even by his own wild standards, Donald Trump shocked the world on Tuesday evening by suggesting the US should take over the Gaza Strip, displace millions of Palestinians and turn the territory into the ‘Riviera of the Middle East’.
It was a plan casually announced by the US president and immediately denounced around the world. In particular, the idea that the Palestinians of Gaza should be resettled in neighbouring Arab countries seems to amount to a form of ethnic cleansing.
As the Guardian’s diplomatic editor, Patrick Wintour, explains, it was just the latest move by Trump in a week that has rattled US allies and adversaries alike. The Trump administration has threatened trade wars with the US’s biggest trading partners. At the same time, the president has in effect frozen USAid, the largest aid organisation in the world.
As Helen Pidd hears, it is a new age of chaos that governments around the world seem barely prepared for. You can listen to the podcast episode here:
West Bank healthcare system in 'perpetual emergency' – report
The healthcare system in the occupied West Bank has been in “a state of perpetual emergency” since October 2023, Doctors Without Borders said in a new report published on Thursday.
“A dramatic escalation in violence, marked by prolonged Israeli military incursions and stricter movement restrictions … have severely hindered access to essential services, particularly healthcare, exacerbating already dire living conditions for many Palestinians,” it said, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Violence in the region soared after Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel in October 2023, which triggered a massive retaliation by Israel that has levelled much of Gaza.
“Since October 7, 2023, the West Bank has seen a dramatic escalation in violence, marked by prolonged Israeli military incursions and stricter movement restrictions,” it said.
The report examined “the attacks and obstructions of healthcare” in a context of what “has been described by the international court of justice (ICJ) as segregation and apartheid” and revealed “a pattern of systematic interference by Israeli forces and settlers in emergency healthcare delivery”.
Updated
Malaysia says ’strongly opposes’ any plan to forcibly resettle Palestinians
Malaysia said on Thursday it “strongly opposes” any plan to forcibly resettle Palestinians from Gaza, Reuters reports.
Muslim-majority Malaysia has no diplomatic relations with Israel and many in the south-east Asian country support the Palestinians.
“Malaysia strongly opposes any proposal that could lead to the forced displacement or movement of Palestinians from their homeland,” the foreign ministry said in a statement. It said:
Such inhumane actions constitute ethnic cleansing and are clear violations of international law and multiple UN resolutions.”
Malaysian prime minister Anwar Ibrahim has been vocal in opposing Israel’s war against Hamas. Anwar has said that Malaysia maintains good relations with the political wing of Hamas but has no connections with its military wing.
His government has channelled donations and humanitarian aid amounting to $10.19m to the Palestinian people in Gaza since the war erupted.
Updated
Iran rejects 'shocking' Trump plan
Iran’s foreign ministry rejected Thursday what it called a “shocking” plan laid out by US President Donald Trump to take over Gaza and “forcibly displace” Palestinians from the coastal territory, AFP reports.
“The plan to clear Gaza and forcibly displace the Palestinian people to neighbouring countries is considered a continuation of the Zionist regime’s (Israel) targeted plan to completely annihilate the Palestinian nation, and is categorically rejected and condemned,” said foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei.
Trump on Tuesday declared “the US will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it, too. We’ll own it”.
Speaking alongside Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump talked about “permanently” moving Palestinians out of Gaza.
The plan sparked uproar from Arab governments and world leaders, with the United Nations warning against “ethnic cleansing” in the Palestinian territory.
Baghaei described Trump’s plan as “an unprecedented attack on the fundamental principles and foundations of international law and the United Nations Charter.”
Updated
In Gaza, Donald Trump’s plan for the United States to take over the territory was met with anger and disbelief by Palestinians sheltering in the ruins of their houses, or crammed into makeshift camps.
They know better than anyone the terrible impact of 15 months of Israeli attacks that have reduced so much of Gaza to rubble.
Abu Firas, 52, lives in a tent on the coast that Trump claims he will remake into the “Riviera of the Middle East”. His home in eastern Khan Younis has been destroyed, and he lost 80 relatives.
He wants help rebuilding, not a ticket out of the place he loves. “We would rather die here than leave this land,” he told the Guardian. “No amount of money in the world can replace your homeland.”
Israeli defence minister orders army to prepare for Gaza residents' departure – reports
Israeli defence minister Israel Katz has ordered the army on Thursday to prepare a plan to allow for the departure of Gaza residents from the strip, Israeli media reported, according to Reuters.
The instruction follows US President Donald Trump’s announcement that the US plans to take over Gaza and resettle the Palestinians living there, prompting widespread anger and rejection including from regional allies. Rights groups have condemned the suggestion as ethnic cleansing.
Katz is quoted as welcoming Trump’s “courageous plan, which could enable a wide swath of the population in Gaza to leave to various places around the world.”
“Gaza’s residents should be allowed the freedom to exit and emigrate, as is the practice anywhere around the world,” Katz said, according to The Times of Israel, adding that Trump’s plan could advance “rehabilitation plans in a demilitarized Gaza that poses no threat in the post-Hamas era, which will take many years.”
Updated
Netanyahu says Trump's 'remarkable idea' should be pursued
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that there was nothing wrong in Donald Trump’s idea of displacing Palestinians from Gaza after the US president’s proposal drew international criticism.
Rights groups have condemned as ethnic cleansing Trump’s suggestion the previous day that Palestinians in the territory should be permanently displaced, while also proposing a US takeover of Gaza.
In an interview with Fox News, Netanyahu did not explicitly talk about Trump’s idea of the US taking over the Gaza Strip but backed the idea of allowing people to leave if they wanted to.
“I mean, what’s wrong with that?” he said. “They can leave, they can then come back, they can relocate and come back. But you have to rebuild Gaza.”
Netanyahu said he did not believe Trump had suggested sending US troops to fight Hamas in Gaza or that Washington would finance rebuilding efforts.
“This is the first good idea that I’ve heard,” he added. “It’s a remarkable idea, and I think it should be really pursued, examined, pursued and done, because I think it will create a different future for everyone.”
Netanyahu also repeated his view that Trump is “the greatest friend that Israel has ever had in the White House”.
Opening summary
Donald Trump’s proposal for a US takeover of Gaza has been met with anger and blunt rejection from regional allies, delight from Israel’s far right and a warning against “ethnic cleansing” from the head of the UN.
The secretary general, António Guterres, told a UN meeting on Wednesday that “it is essential to avoid any form of ethnic cleansing” after the US president said he wanted to “own” Gaza and resettle its Palestinian residents elsewhere.
Both regional critics and supporters recognised that Trump’s vision for a “Riviera for the Middle East” would insert the US directly into the heart of one of the most volatile, long-running conflicts in the world.
Trump officials, meanwhile, appeared intent to walk back his position. Addressing the president’s comments on Wednesday, the White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said it “does not mean boots on the ground in Gaza” after Trump left a US military presence an open question on Tuesday. The secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said the Trump plan was not meant as a “hostile move”, but rather a generous gesture aimed at rebuilding.
Saudi Arabia was among the first countries to reject Trump’s project to reimagine Gaza as a real-estate prospect, and perhaps the most consequential. Riyadh was quick to announce its “unequivocal rejection” of any attempt to displace Palestinians from their land.
In other developments:
Defence secretary Pete Hegseth said the Pentagon was prepared to look at “all options” when it comes to Gaza. Hegseth made the comments on Wednesday before meeting with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, reportedly said the US president does not want to put any American troops into Gaza. “Witkoff said that the president doesn’t want to put any troops into Gaza, and that he doesn’t want to spend any US money on Gaza,” the Republican senator for Missouri, Josh Hawley, said, according to the Washington Post.
Peace through strength is a concept Israel shares with the United States, Netanyahu said. “The only way to get peace, and enduring peace, is by being very, very strong,” he said, according to a readout of the meeting. “And with our alliance and your support, including the decision … of supplying Israel the much-needed tools for our defense, we are a lot stronger than we’ve ever been.”
The UN said forcible deportation of people from occupied territory is “strictly prohibited” under international law, while Human Rights Watch said the policy would be a “moral abomination”. Amnesty International condemned Donald Trump’s comments as “inflammatory, outrageous and shameful”. International law experts said it could amount to a war crime or crime against humanity.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Gaza was “an integral part of the State of Palestine” and that “we will not allow the rights of our people … to be infringed on”.
The estimated death toll in Gaza since the start of Israeli operations in the territory after the 7 October attacks reached 47,552, according to the Palestinian ministry of health on Wednesday.
