Trump Tells Bibi, Like It or Not, I'm In Charge in Gaza—and Bibi Does Not Like It

Oct. 26—After the Butcher of Gaza, Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu, launched last weekend a massive retaliatory airstrike that killed over 40 innocent Gazans—for an alleged Hamas attack on Israeli forces near the ruins of Rafah that killed two Israel Defense Force soldiers—the new Sheriff of Gaza, U.S. President Donald Trump, dispatched his three top deputies to warn Bibi against ever trying a stunt like that again without first asking his approval.

Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and the presidential son-in-law, in a tense meeting with Netanyahu, told him that the President was not about to let him undermine the ceasefire that went into effect as part of the first stage of the Trump Peace Plan, which has already seen Hamas release all of the living hostages and most of the remains of those dead in captivity. At Trump's request, Witkoff had contacted Hamas and was told that they did not authorize the attack and that it might have been conducted by rogue units. Other sources say that it might even have been done by gang members from the many that the Israelis had funded and armed, made to look like Hamas.

While Witkoff has no proof of such claims, he does not put that beyond Netanyahu, who has made it clear that he would want to restart the war with Hamas and Palestinians that Trump has declared over—not only to the Hamas leadership, but to the world.

U.S. Surveillance and Israeli Backlash

Witkoff, while there, ordered U.S. forces operating out of Israel—helping to set up the Transitional Security Force (TSF) called for under the Trump Plan to enforce the ceasefire and help police the Strip, something currently only done by Hamas with Trump's approval—to use drones to monitor activity by Hamas, but also by the IDF. When Haaretz reported this, sources say, Bibi and several unnamed former American officials "flipped a cork."

Witkoff was later pulled back by Trump to deal with Russia and ending the war in Ukraine, and was replaced on site by Vice President JD Vance, who also said that ceasefire violations would be assessed and dealt with by the Trump administration, stating that under the peace deal, Israel no longer has absolute freedom of operation in Gaza—an assertion Netanyahu first challenged privately, only to be rebuffed by Vance, with the support of his boss, Trump.

Trump, Vance Reject West Bank Annexation

Vance, acting with Trump's approval, also asserted that he and the President felt personally offended by actions by the Israeli Knesset to approve preliminary legislation to annex the West Bank—an action which prompted denunciations from Trump's Arab partners in the peace process, including Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey, as well as all Palestinian factions. Vance repeated Trump's direct statement that Israel will not be allowed to annex the West Bank or increase settlements there or in Gaza. "That is off the table," Trump had stated, and Vance told Netanyahu.

Trump's bungling Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived later in the week repeating the same mantra (and adding his own statement that UNRWA, the United Nations' competent relief agency that Netanyahu stupidly claimed was a front for Hamas, would not have any role in future humanitarian efforts—repeating Bibi's claims, which an inquiry of the International Criminal Court had found to be totally baseless. Sources report that Trump has not yet made a firm decision on how aid will be distributed, only that massive amounts should come through immediately.)

Khoury: De Facto Annexation Continues

But the knowledgeable Haaretz commentator Jack Khoury wrote today that on the ground, every day, a de facto annexation is taking place, with Israel increasingly in control of every aspect of Palestinian life on the West Bank, and allowing its population to be terrorized by crazed Israeli settlers and IDF actions. He writes:

"While the Trump administration prides itself on its principled stance, it's done almost nothing to stem the trend. Israel enjoys free rein in all matters concerning Palestinian life, including the confiscation of Palestinian Authority tax revenues, the suspension of payments and the dismantling of any trace of political initiative that might signal a genuine diplomatic process.

"The administration may have blocked an annexation bill, but it greenlights everything else. It levies no sanctions, offers no real preventive steps and does not even offer a clear statement affirming the rights of Palestinians as a people under occupation.

"Preventing de facto annexation isn't just a diplomatic slogan; it takes concrete steps and political courage, especially from the Trump administration. Anyone who truly wants to halt the ongoing annexation of the West Bank must release the frozen Palestinian Authority tax revenues, demand an end to settlement expansion and revive basic diplomatic measures such as reopening the U.S. consulate in East Jerusalem or restoring the PLO's offices in Washington, D.C...

"One can thank the Trump administration for its firm stance against formal annexation, but gratitude isn't enough. When the reality is a regime that segregates, denies rights and expands control by force, no legislation is needed to recognize it as annexation—annexation not signed on paper but visible in every locked gate and checkpoint, every uprooted olive tree and every Palestinian village cut off in the name of Israel's 'security needs.'"

Trump Presses Hamas on Hostage Remains

Yesterday, Sheriff Trump, who stopped to meet on Air Force One—while it was refueled in Qatar—with the Qatari Emir and the Prime Minister, addressed another of Netanyahu's complaints around which threats have erupted that could break the deal. He urged Hamas to release the remaining bodies of deceased hostages it held in captivity in Gaza, including two U.S. nationals, Itay Chen and Omer Neutra, in a post on Truth Social on Saturday, saying that "some of the bodies are hard to reach, but others can be returned now, and for some reason, they are not."

Trump suggested that delays in the bodies' release might be linked to Hamas' disarmament, adding that the other countries involved in the ceasefire agreement could take action if Hamas fails to comply with its obligations. "Let's see what they [Hamas] do over the next 48 hours. I am watching this very closely," he wrote.

Senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya told Al Jazeera that the organization will enter new areas in the Strip to search for additional bodies of hostages that have not yet been found, adding that "Israel will not be given an excuse to resume the war." Regarding Hamas' disarmament, Al-Hayya said that "if the occupation ends, the weapons will pass into the hands of the state."

Netanyahu Bristles at U.S. Oversight

Bibi, sources report, is throwing a rug-chewing fit over the fact that Trump regards him as more of an impediment to his plans for peace than Hamas, or even Iran.

Netanyahu said today during a government meeting that Israel strikes in Gaza at its own discretion and "does not seek anyone's approval." His comments come after Haaretz reported that the U.S. expects Israel to notify it in advance before the IDF conducts any exceptional strikes in the Strip. Netanyahu added that "Israel is an independent country, the United States is an independent country. Our relationship is one of partners."

"Whether Bibi likes it or not—and apparently he does not like it," said a source close to the White House, "Donald Trump is the Sheriff here and he does not trust the gunslinger, Bibi."

Wrote Aaron David Miller and Lauren Morganbesser in Haaretz today: "The question now is whether Trump's firmness with Netanyahu is a one-off headline or the start of a more sustainable trend. Trump is known for moving quickly from one issue to another, claiming to have resolved seven conflicts, and, in the wake of the ceasefire in Gaza, adding number eight to that list. So far, it seems Trump isn't prepared to take no for an answer..."