Netanyahu: Gaza evacuation a "great idea"; Trump: Excellent cooperation with neighboring countries

Statements issued following the meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump at the White House early Tuesday morning revealed that the plan to displace Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, proposed by Trump last February and adopted by Netanyahu's government, remains a strong possibility.

Netanyahu said, "The idea of evacuating Gaza is a wonderful idea," adding, "Whoever wants to leave can leave, and whoever wants to stay can stay." He added, "We are working with the United States to find countries that will give the Palestinians a better future, and we are getting closer to reaching them."

Netanyahu's remarks came in response to a question directed primarily at Trump about the plan he proposed in February to displace Palestinians from Gaza, given Israel's efforts to confine the Strip's population to the Rafah area, where it intends to establish a "tent city" during a potential truce.

Earlier today, Netanyahu met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at Blair House in Washington, where the two sides discussed ways to "strengthen the alliance between Israel and the United States and address regional and international challenges."

Netanyahu also met with Special Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff, with Witkoff saying, "We have a chance to finally reach a deal," referring to the ceasefire efforts in Gaza and a prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas.

During the meeting with Trump, Netanyahu recommended, on behalf of Israel, that the US president be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, saying, "Trump is making peace in one region after another." Trump responded by saying, "Thank you very much. It's a great honor to have Bibi and Sara with us, and I believe we have great success in the future."

Trump added, "We have set a date to negotiate with Iran, and the Iranians want to talk to us. We basically destroyed their nuclear facilities," and continued, "We will do everything we can to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear country." Trump mocked Iran's response after the US attack and the firing toward Qatar, saying, "Everything was carefully coordinated, down to the timing and the destination."

When Trump was asked about the possibility of an additional strike against Iran, he replied: "I hope we don't have to do that. I don't think that will happen. They want to meet with us, and they're in a very different place than they were two weeks ago."

"Peace can be achieved throughout the Middle East, and we are working in accordance with President Trump's vision to achieve comprehensive peace in the region," Netanyahu said. "As Trump speaks now, he is exploiting opportunities to expand the Abraham Accords. I believe that under Trump's leadership, we will succeed in achieving peace with all our neighbors," Netanyahu added.

Regarding the two-state solution, Trump directed the question to Netanyahu, who replied, "The Palestinians should have the ability to govern themselves, but not the ability to threaten us." He added, "The Palestinians had a Hamas state before October 7, and look what they did to it."

"They carried out a horrific massacre, the likes of which we have not seen since the Nazis," he continued. Netanyahu added, "We can reach peace with the Palestinians, who do not want to destroy us, but security will always remain in our hands, and no one will give that up."

While Trump said he "doesn't believe" there are any obstacles to a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel and that "things are going well," referring to the Doha negotiations, he added that "Hamas wants to negotiate and reach a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip."

Regarding the sixth round of negotiations with Iran, the first since the Israeli war on Tehran, in which Washington participated by striking Iranian nuclear facilities, US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff said, "The meeting with Iran will likely take place next week."

Trump: We lifted sanctions on Syria at the request of Netanyahu and Arab countries.

Regarding the possibility of normalization between Syria and Israel, Trump said he decided to lift sanctions on Syria "at the request of many Middle Eastern countries, including Netanyahu." He added, "I met with the new leader of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, and he left a strong impression on me. We lifted the sanctions because we wanted to give him a chance."

For his part, Netanyahu said that "there is an opportunity that must be explored" regarding normalization with Syria, adding that "the situation has changed," considering that "Iran's exit from the picture opens the way for stability, and perhaps ultimately peace."

Netanyahu added, "President Trump has opened a channel (of communication), and thus the Syrians have much to lose from the conflict and much to gain from peace."