Only Trump Can Stop Bibi's Gaza Slaughter Now
Aug. 31—Sources close to the White House and in Israel say that only President Donald Trump can force the Butcher of Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu, to accept a new ceasefire/hostage exchange deal rather than launch his proposed destruction of Gaza City. These sources say Bibi knows the operation will kill scores of thousands more innocent Palestinians and all remaining living hostages, and will likely leave Hamas as terrorist cliques embedded in Gaza's dying population.
Leaked IDF Report Challenges Netanyahu’s Timeline
These sources say that the Trump team has been leaked a classified report from the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) which questions the viability and timetable of Netanyahu's proposed Gaza occupation. The report says that the operation will not be short—certainly not the three weeks that Bibi told Trump it would last—and that it cannot be done without "massive" loss of civilian life, as large numbers of Gazans, perhaps more than 300,000 of its two million people, will refuse to leave Gaza City. The IDF reportedly estimates that there are only several thousand Hamas fighters holed up in the area, which is thought to also contain the 20 or so living hostages.
The IDF estimates that its attacks, even with warnings and demands for evacuation, are likely to kill upwards of 30,000 civilians. The IDF can also offer no certain assurance that Hamas militants might not flee as the fighting expands. In addition, the IDF command says that they cannot begin the operation—not only because nearly two million Gazans remain in Gaza City—but because they lack additional forces, which are only starting to be mobilized from reserves and call-ups.
Dermer’s Assurances and Trump’s Initial Support
Bibi's chief envoy, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, was in Washington this week and met with Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff, where he repeated that the Gaza occupation move would be swift and decisive and would end within weeks of its start, with only minimal civilian casualties. This repeats what Netanyahu has told Trump personally, which got the President to initially "greenlight" the maneuver and to repeat statements from the Israelis that the only way to end the conflict and the humanitarian disaster it has caused is to defeat Hamas once and for all.
But sources report that the IDF leadership, including its leader Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, are opposed to the occupation and would prefer a ceasefire/hostage release deal that has been placed on the table two weeks ago following Hamas’s acceptance of a proposal originally put forward by Witkoff and accepted by Israel. Seeing no action by Bibi on the ceasefire, sources say that the IDF intel report has found its way to Trump's circles.
Global Condemnation and Trump’s Silence
The Gaza occupation plan has been denounced by governments around the world who say that it amounts to new genocide against the starving and dying Gazans. It has also triggered mass protests in Israel, led by the families of the hostages, who have called on Trump to rein in Netanyahu's bloodlust.
But so far Trump has said almost nothing and done even less. Instead, he hosted a White House policy meeting Aug. 27 on Gaza, where the main focus was on post-Gaza development plans. Notable was the prominent participation in the meeting by Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and his buddy, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who were the instigators of the absurd Trump Riviera scheme that would relocate Gazans. Sources report that parts of that scheme have made their way back into post-war planning, with the forced relocation being replaced by Blair's offering $9,000 for Gazans to leave.
Blair is the actual author of the plans implemented post-9/11 for endless wars in the region, which Trump has denounced. Kushner, who has in the past been bailed out by rich Arabs, including the Saudis, from financial difficulties, and reportedly Secretary of State Marco Rubio, would like to see Blair serve as new czar of post-war Gaza, overseeing what will be a money-making (for some) development policy.
At one point, according to a report from Axios, Dermer was called into the White House meeting to be asked questions about the Gaza occupation and Bibi's view of Gaza's future. He told Trump and his Gaza team, including Blair, that Bibi did not want to permanently occupy Gaza and that he wanted to turn it over to Arabs who would be neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority, and that whatever Gazans who survived the Israeli genocide were free to stay or go as they pleased.
Blair, who shares Bibi's affinity for lying, claimed not to be directly involved in any planning for the Trump Riviera or anything else in Gaza—despite evidence to the contrary.
While Dermer gave Trump assurances that Bibi had no plans to annex all or parts of Gaza, it was not clear if the same assurances were given for the West Bank, where such annexations are openly being spoken about by Bibi's lunatic coalition ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir (National Security) and Bezalel Smotrich (Finance).
A Bad Week for Trump
"This was a bad week for the Trump team," said a source in the region. "You have Bibi sticking with plans in Gaza which will kill scores of thousands more innocents, and you have the President seemingly supporting this. Yet, there is a workable deal on the table that could avert this disaster. It is a deal Bibi already agreed to. Yet it appears Trump has grown weary of the process and prefers to think that this all could be over by military action. Netanyahu has lied to the Israelis, lied to the world and lied to Trump. The President needs to speak for the world and for sanity and force Israel to take the deal—a deal they already support. If Bibi forces the IDF to invade and occupy the rest of Gaza, he will be committing genocide. If Trump lets this happen, not only will he not get his Nobel Prize, he will join Bibi in the dock for abetting genocide."
The Israeli Security Cabinet will meet today, but they are not expected to discuss the ceasefire deal and will instead be updated on plans to invade and occupy Gaza. In addition, plans for annexation of the West Bank and Gaza promoted by the fascist settler movement and its sponsors Ben-Gvir and Smotrich may be discussed, as well as a controversial plan evacuating the Palestinian village of Khan al-Ahmar in the West Bank, despite the international criticism such a move would provoke.
"Trump can put an end to this, as there is still time before the big move on Gaza City," said the source. "Let Trump reverse course and send Witkoff to close the deal—that means getting Bibi to accept what he once endorsed."
What's Going On Here?
According to analyst Yossi Verter in Haaretz Aug. 29:
"Opposition leader Yair Lapid got a phone call this week from an Egyptian official close to President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi. 'Can you explain to me what's going on over there?' the official asked. 'What are you talking about?' Lapid asked.
"'What you call the 'Witkoff plan' and what we call the 'Netanyahu plan,' because it was his idea from the very start—the whole idea of a partial deal, the return of 10 living hostages and 18 dead ones and the 60 days of negotiations about the rest, it was all dictated by Netanyahu,' the Egyptian answered. 'Witkoff presented it so it wouldn't appear that Hamas was accepting what Netanyahu is demanding.'
"Okay, Lapid said, so? 'So, we went with it to Hamas, made them sign it and since then Netanyahu has disappeared.' What do you mean by disappeared, Lapid asked. 'Exactly what it sounds like,' the official said.
"'It's been two weeks, and we haven't been able to reach his office. Your negotiating team tells us that they were told to sit at home and wait. And now we read in the media that your prime minister rejects a phased deal and insists on a comprehensive one. So we're wondering, are you aware that Netanyahu decided to kill his own plan?'"
"As we all know, this isn't the first time Netanyahu has shied away from something he himself proposed. This was also the case in June 2024 with the plan he showed the war cabinet, which was presented by then-U.S. President Joe Biden. If Donald Trump hadn't been elected six months later, forcing Netanyahu to agree to the release of 33 hostages, they would still be there.
"This is Netanyahu. Deceiving everyone. He builds hopes with one side of his mouth and crushes them with the other, impervious to the suffering of the hostages' families."
Premeditated Murder of Hostages
There were mass demonstrations last night for a hostage deal and against the government. Ahead of the protests, prominent hostage mother and activist Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan Zangauker is being held captive in Gaza, gave a statement to the media near the Defense Ministry and the IDF's Tel Aviv headquarters:
"Netanyahu says that ending the war will lead to another October 7, but he also said in April last year that we are one step away from complete victory. The truth is that every time we are faced with a new false spin by Netanyahu, the sole purpose of which is to justify a political war that has long since achieved its goals on the backs of our children, who are going through the Holocaust.
"Netanyahu says that ending the war now will lead to another October 7, but he also said in April last year that we are one step away from complete victory. The truth is that every time we are faced with a new false spin by Netanyahu, the sole purpose of which is to justify a political war that has long since achieved its goals on the backs of our children, who are going through the Holocaust.
"He also claims that several ways are being considered to free the hostages but returning them in 'black bag' rescue operations is not the way – they endanger the soldiers and the hostages! The only way that has not been tried so far is through a comprehensive and workable agreement and ending the war.
"If Netanyahu chooses the occupation of the Strip instead of the current outline for the deal, it will be the execution of our precious hostages and soldiers. He will shed the blood of the citizens of Israel. Netanyahu, if Matan returns in a bag, not only will Matan and I pay the price, but I will personally ensure that [Netanyahu] is charged with premeditated murder."