US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will share “some unity” in how the US and Israel intend to pursue the second phase of the ceasefire and hostage deal, a senior Trump administration official said on Tuesday morning prior to the two leader’s meeting at the White House.
Israeli-Saudi normalization will also be a focus of the meeting, according to the official.
“The most important thing to President Trump is to get our hostages home,” the official said. “Not only in Gaza, but around the world.”
Though both National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Secretary of State Marco Rubio agree that Hamas cannot govern Gaza, the official pointed out.
“This is a terrorist organization that is responsible for killing Americans, and is responsible for the most deaths of the Jewish people in any single day since the Holocaust,” the official said. “That is not in any way an organization that we would tolerate ruling Gaza at the end of all of this. And that is a common goal that I would add, that not only Israel and the United States share, but that we share with many of our Arab allies in the region.”
Another administration official deflected answering if the Trump administration supports a two state solution.
Trump’s focus
The official said Trump right now is extremely focused on getting all hostages out and ensuring that Hamas cannot govern and is out of power.
“Beyond that, I think the administration will be looking towards building on the end of the Gaza war ultimately to promote regional normalization, but that’s as far as I’m able to go in terms of how we’re seeing the peace process,” the official said.
The official addressed the back and forth between Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi regarding Trump’s persistence on resettling Gazans in Egypt.
According to the official, Trump sees it as impractical for Gaza to be rebuilt within three to five years and believes rebuilding will take at least 10 to 15 years.
Trump thinks it’s inhumane to force people to live in an uninhabitable plot of land, the official said, and is “looking for solutions for helping the people of Gaza have normal lives” and is “trying to look at this in a realistic way.”
Jesus Christ is King
