Israeli PM Netanyahu, who is subject to an ICC arrest warrant for war
crimes and crimes against humanity, grinned as Donald Trump described
the unlivable conditions in Gaza
No such problem for the extremists in Israel. They could scarcely believe their luck.
Itamar Ben-Gvir currently out of government and Bezalel Smotrich still
in the Netanyahu cabinet were salivating at the thought that Gaza
ethnically cleansed of Palestinians would be ripe for settler
colonisation.
Arab states were furious at the latest Trump salvo none more significantly than Saudi Arabia. The kingdom immediately responded to Trump’s Gaza riff with a firm riposte from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs:
His Highness [Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin
Salman] has affirmed this position in a clear and explicit manner that
does not allow for any interpretation under any circumstances.
His Highness stressed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will not stop
its tireless work towards the establishment of an independent
Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and the Kingdom
will not establish diplomatic relations with Israel without that.
Meantime back in Washington Karoline Leavitt the White House press secretary was attempting to tamp down the flames. On Wednesday she claimed that the relocation would be “temporary” and that no US troops would be needed.
Although she did not reference it, probably because the US
administration was not given prior knowledge, the Israeli Defence
Minister Israel Katz
quickly leapt into the breech ordering the IDF to pull together a plan
for Gazans to “leave the Strip voluntarily.” Katz said they could go
anywhere they wanted to in the world but helpfully suggested Spain,
Ireland and Norway as destinations. Those three countries have had the
temerity to object to the genocide and ethnic cleansing the IDF is
conducting. For good measure Katz threw in Canada even though the
current Trudeau government has voiced only occasional and mild criticism
of the manner in which Israel has chosen to prosecute its war with
Hamas.
And then less than 12 hours after Leavitt’s attempt at pouring calming waters on the blaze Trump was right back at it doubling down
at 6:30 AM Washington time on his Truth Social platform. This time
Israel would “give” Gaza to the US and there would be no need for
American boots on the ground. In a post riddled with his signature
exclamation marks Trump proclaimed:
(Palestinians) 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 U.S., 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 U.S. would be needed! Stability for the
region would reign!!!
Note he talked of resettlement “in the region.” This time around the
president did not mention Egypt or Jordan as destinations, a nod perhaps
to the reality that neither country for both political and economic
reasons can afford to take in dispossessed Palestinians.
As the commentariat collectively scratches its head and wonders WTF
is happening and what Trump will say next Ahmed Al Sharaa Syria’s new
president and al Qaeda alumnus was quietly going about his business
consolidating support for his HTS regime.
His first visit was to Riyadh to shake hands with the de facto
Saudi ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Despite his back story as
a violent Sunni jihadist - the sort of leader the ruling Al Saud had
come to loath – the meeting from all accounts went well. Al Sharaa said
that MbS had “a genuine desire to support Syria in building its future.”
The two discussed plans to cooperate in the energy, education,
technology and health sectors.
Next up for al Sharaa was a trip to Ankara
to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Again smiling
faces all round with Erdoğan applauding the now seemingly reformed
ex-terrorist for “his fight against terrorism.” As the president put it
“I told my brother Ahmed al-Sharaa we are ready to provide the necessary
support to Syria in the fight against all kinds of terrorism, whether
it be Daesh or the PKK.” The latter is the Kurdish militant organisation
that Erdoğan has long sparred with in a low intensity war in Eastern
Syria and Northern Iraq.
With the region and the West seemingly in fundamental agreement that
an ex-terrorist is a suitable replacement for the deposed dictator
Bashar al-Assad one wonders if al-Sharaa might soon be entertaining a
phone call from Donald Trump? The removal of US sanctions are crucial to
the reconstruction of Syria, as important in many ways as money from
the Gulf States and Türkiye.
And if neither Jordan nor Egypt will take the Gazans might Syria, for
the right price and the ending of sanctions be the “beautiful”
destination Trump is talking about?
The consensus in Western capitals and from the commentariat is that
the US seizing Gaza and emptying out the Palestinians is not going to
happen. Comforting though that assumption may be to some, the risk
remains that the world will, as it has done with the Gaza genocide,
stand by as Israel commits another war crime, this time the ethnic
cleansing of two million people.
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