Trump Claims Breakthrough in Ceasefire Negotiations
July 9—President Donald Trump met for several hours yesterday in the White House with the Butcher of Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu, and sources report that Trump believes that he received assurances that Israel will sign off a deal that for a 60-day ceasefire during which 10 living and 18 dead hostages would be released in phases, along with the release of Palestinian prisoners by Israel. The President, sources close to the White House report, also believes that once Israel stops its slaughtering of Palestinians, that it will not begin military operations against Hamas again, and that the negotiations will bring a final peace deal, with Gaza under control of a new civilian authority without Hamas' direct participation.
Assurances Delivered Through Qatari and Egyptian Mediation
The sources say that Trump, encouraged by his talks with Bibi, has given his personal assurances to Hamas, as well as the Qatari and Egyptian mediators who have been carrying on discussions in Doha, while Bibi was meeting with the Administration and Congress in Washington, that Israel will not resume fighting after the ceasefire expires. It is on the basis of the President's word, which was given to a Qatari envoy in Washington, by Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, who now says that three of the 4 points of disagreement between Hamas and Israel about the terms of his revised peace plan have been resolved; the Qatari envoy also met with Netanyahu. Sources close to the Special Envoy say that he expects that last point, which deals with the end of the war, to be resolved quickly now that the assurance from Trump has been conveyed. Witkoff plans to fly to Doha to get the deal signed, with his departure likely to be fixed later today. "The fighting and the killing should stop by Monday," said a source.
Critics Warn of Underlying Israeli Intentions
But sources with knowledge of the situation on the ground, both in Israel and Washington, say Bibi has played Trump's desperation to reach a deal, after months of frustration and Israeli sabotage, to allow for a what the messianic Bibi intends to be merely a pause in his plans to kill as many Palestinians as possible, while expelling the rest from Gaza. These sources point to the fact that Bibi brought up once again the idea of the expulsion of Gazans from their homeland, only now stressing that it will be their choice, "totally voluntary," and claiming that this was also the President's plan, shows Netanyahu's intentions.
The ‘Humanitarian City’ Plan Sparks Outrage
These sources say that the content of this "free choice" relocation is contained in the plans, approved by the cabinet over the objection of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and its chief of staff Lt. General Eyal Zamir, that would have the IDF build a "humanitarian city" over the ruins of Rafah, a city that has been totally annihilated with Hiroshima-like results and then house the entire population in what critics rightfully warn will be "the world's largest concentration camp." Once herded into this prison, Bibi will then force the "free choice" to relocate upon its prisoners.
Zamir has reportedly told people that IDF opposes the plan, as it can only be implemented at the point of IDF guns, with more killing, and then would have the IDF deploy to keep the Gazans in this setting.
"The plan here is as plain as day," said a source. "Make nice for a while. Stop the killing. Get aid distributed, and then as the ceasefire expires introduce the Rafah 'concentration camp' plan, with the so-called city built, to blow up the talks. Hamas pulls out, or if they don't agree, Bibi pulls out and the IDF marches in to enforce this 'Paradise' City scheme and the war goes on."
Possible Path Forward Amid Fragile Coalition and War Weariness
By supporting this scheme, which was first proposed by Bibi's lunatic cabinet minister Bezalel Smotrich (Finance), it also keeps his fragile coalition in place, despite Israel signing a ceasefire with Hamas that Smotrich and the equally insane National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir say they will never support.
Writes Amos Harel in Haaretz today: "This plan rears its ugly head about once every two months, mainly during Netanyahu's visits to Washington. Trump, who expressed support for the idea in February, seems to have lost interest since then. The extensive preoccupation of the prime minister and his people with it may have nothing to do with strategic or even coalition considerations (the attempt to keep the far-right factions in the government). Perhaps it is meant to be a deal-killer that can be pulled out of his hat if Hamas proves to be flexible in the cease-fire negotiations.
"Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir are demanding this, and Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz are going along with it. The claim that a 'humanitarian city' will be erected in Rafah is no more ridiculous than the attempt to define the plan as encouraging voluntary migration. In reality, Israel seeks to replace the difficult conditions of the Gaza residents crowded into the Muwasi area near the coast with even more difficult conditions in Rafah."
Sources say that Witkoff, who need not show the political love for Bibi that forces inside the Administration and the Congress demand Trump show, knows that Bibi intends to try to blow up negotiations before any agreement on a permanent end to the war could be reached. When Netanyahu, the Senator from Jerusalem, is safely back in Israel, Witkoff intends to discuss with Trump a way forward that would block Bibi's genocidal schemes. Sources say that there have been quiet discussions about moving forward quickly with the so-called Egyptian plan for the redevelopment (actually, the development of Gaza, as there was very little there before the war). Sources in the region say that they would have the Egyptians put together the new non-Hamas government in Gaza, with involvement of the Palestinian Authority. Hamas would be disbanded as an organization and its military wing disarmed.
One idea being floated is that former Hamas non-military leaders could serve on a "watchdog committee" that would make suggestions to the new government. Meanwhile, lower level Hamas members, who were forced to join the organization, to serve their posts in, for example, the health ministry, could be called on to perform similar roles in the new government.
"What Trump should do in the near future is to say that he wants to clarify this issue of a 'humanitarian city' as discussed by the Israelis," a source with decades of experience in the region said. "He should say that he support building a real city, not some transfer camp, or concentration camp, and that he was prepared to offer the help of U.S city planners and the Army Corps of Engineers in this effort. And, he should say, the Gazans should be amply represented in designing their new city. That would send Bibi into a rug chewing fit."
The frustration over the senseless war in Gaza reaches deep into the IDF and families of its reservists, killed, for what purpose? Commentator Harel reports on the funeral of recently killed IDF soldier: "...Israel is mired in a pointless war that it has long since lost any justification for continuing. 'You were a brave soldier in a war with no goal,' said a friend of one of the dead, Sgt. 1st Class Benyamin Asulin of Haifa, in his eulogy."
"At last, Israel will join the family of enlightened nations. Like Germany, Japan, China and the United States, Israel too will have a large, well-organized concentration camp," writes the respected analyst Zvi Bar'el in Haaretz today. "It will be built on the ruins of the southern Gaza city of Rafah, to which around 600,000 Gazans will be brought 'voluntarily'...Rafah will change the face of the IDF, turning it into the guard corps of the world's biggest concentration camp. Hundreds of soldiers, perhaps thousands, will spend their days as jailers from a distance, tensely watching hundreds of thousands of children, women and older people, day and night, week after week, year after year. One can already imagine the heroic stories they will tell about their 'meaningful service' on fence patrol, and what kind of citizens they will be after such service."