Netanyahu Says Israel and Trump Have ‘Common Strategy’ on Gaza

 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel and US President Donald Trump had a “common stragegy” on Gaza’s future, after he met visiting top US diplmat Marco Rubio.

“We discussed Trump’s bold vision for Gaza’s future and will work to ensure that vision becomes a reality,” Netanyahu told reporters after the meeting, adding that the two leaders had a “common strategy” for the future of the Palestinian territory.

Rubio landed at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv and is due to hold talks with Israeli officials on Sunday when he will highlight Trump’s controversial proposal to take control of the Gaza Strip, which has been devastated by more than 15 months of war between Hamas and Israel.

Coming from Munich, where he took part in a security conference dominated by the Ukraine war, the top US diplomat is set to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Sunday.

Netanyahu, who recently visited Washington where he met Donald Trump, expressed his appreciation for the US president’s “full support” for Israel’s next moves in Gaza.
“Israel will now have to decide what they will do,” Trump posted on Truth Social on Saturday.

“The United States will back the decision they make!” he added.
Rubio arrived in Israel hours after Hamas freed three Israeli hostages in Gaza in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in the sixth swap of a nearly month-old ceasefire.

Israel’s defense ministry also said Sunday that a shipment of “heavy” US-made bombs arrived overnight in Israel. 

“A shipment of heavy aerial bombs recently released by the US government was received and unloaded overnight in Israel,” the ministry said in a statement, referring to MK-84 munitions recently authorized by Trump’s administration.

The ceasefire came close to collapse earlier this week and Netanyahu credited “President Trump’s firm stance” with ensuring Saturday’s releases went ahead.

In his meetings, the US top diplomat is expected to discuss the second phase of the ceasefire, which should see the release of remaining hostages and a more permanent end to the war but which has yet to be agreed in detail.

Washington has expressed openness to alternative proposals from Arab governments but has stressed that currently, “the only plan is Trump’s.”

A source close to the negotiations said mediators hope to begin talks on the second phase “next week in Doha.”

Trump has proposed taking control of the Palestinian territory and displacing its residents to Egypt or Jordan, both of which strongly oppose the proposal.

Trump has warned of repercussions for Egypt and Jordan if they do not allow in the more than two million Palestinians in Gaza.

“Right now the only plan — they don’t like it — but the only plan is the Trump plan. So if they’ve got a better plan, now’s the time to present it,” Rubio said on Thursday.