Trump repeats pledge to take control of Gaza even as pressure mounts to renew ceasefire – The Associated Press
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Israel opened the Netzarim corridor, a roughly 4-mile military zone bisecting the territory, according to the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. The deal says the deadline for the Israeli military to pull out of the militarized zone in Netzarim is Sunday.
Israeli forces withdrew from a key Gaza corridor on Sunday as part of commitments from the tenuous ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. (AP Video by Wafaa Shurafa)
After three gaunt, frail-looking hostages were released by Hamas on Saturday, their families urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to extend the ceasefire beyond its current six-week phase.
Explosives allegedly planted by militants were activated as the Israeli military expanded its operation in the Nur Shams urban refugee camp area, sending plumes of white and black smoke into the sky. (AP video by Aref Tufaha)
A Palestinian man wearing a red shirt, left, stands amidst the rubble of destroyed buildings, watching Israeli soldiers, bottom right, take position in the northern Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Palestinians are seen near destroyed buildings by Israeli bombardments inside the northern Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Israeli soldiers take positions near destroyed buildings inside the northern Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
An Israeli tank near the border with Gaza in southern Israel, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Israeli soldiers wave to the camera from an APC as they cross from the Gaza Strip into Israel, Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov, File)
Israeli soldiers drive near the northern Gaza Strip border in southern Israel, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File)
Israeli soldiers take positions near the border with Gaza in southern Israel, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Israeli soldiers detonate an explosive device during a military raid in the West Bank refugee camp of Nur Shams, Tulkarem, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
Israeli tanks at a staging area near the border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
An Israeli tank takes a position near the border with Gaza in southern Israel, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Israeli soldiers inside the northern Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Israeli soldiers inside the northern Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
An Israeli tank is loaded onto a transport truck near the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
An Israeli soldier aims his weapon during a military raid in the West Bank refugee camp of Nur Shams, Tulkarem, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
MUGHRAQA, Gaza Strip (AP) — New details and growing shock over emaciated hostages renewed pressure Sunday on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to extend a fragile Gaza ceasefire beyond the first phase, even as U.S. President Donald Trump repeated his pledge that the U.S. would take control of the Palestinian enclave.
Talks on the second phase, meant to see more hostages released and a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, were due to start Feb. 3. But Israel and Hamas appear to have made little progress, even as Israeli forces withdrew Sunday from a Gaza corridor in the latest commitment to the truce.
Netanyahu sent a delegation to Qatar, a key mediator, but it included low-level officials, sparking speculation that it won’t lead to a breakthrough. Netanyahu, who returned after a U.S. visit to meet with Trump, is expected to convene security Cabinet ministers on Tuesday.
Speaking on Sunday, Trump repeated his pledge to take control of the Gaza Strip.
“I’m committed to buying and owning Gaza. As far as us rebuilding it, we may give it to other states in the Middle East to build sections of it. Other people may do it through our auspices. But we’re committed to owning it, taking it, and making sure that Hamas doesn’t move back. There’s nothing to move back into. The place is a demolition site. The remainder will be demolished,” he told reporters onboard Air Force One as he traveled to the Super Bowl.
Trump said Arab nations would agree to take in Palestinians after speaking with him and insisted Palestinians would leave Gaza if they had a choice.
“They don’t want to return to Gaza. If we could give them a home in a safer area — the only reason they’re talking about returning to Gaza is they don’t have an alternative. When they have an alternative, they don’t want to return to Gaza.”
Trump also suggested he was losing patience with the deal after seeing the emaciated hostages released this week.
“I watched the hostages
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