By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday, he was “committed to U.S. President [Donald J.] Trump’s plan for the creation of a different Gaza,” but he warned “there will be neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority” ruling the coastal territory.
He spoke after meeting U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who later went to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to discuss Trump’s plans for Gaza.
Rubio is touring the Middle East after President Trump shocked Arab leaders by proposing a U.S. takeover of Gaza while resettling Palestinians living there to nearby countries.
“The secretary underscored the importance of an arrangement for Gaza that contributes to regional security,” U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a readout of the meeting between Rubio and the crown prince.
The US has been pushing for a historic deal in which Saudi Arabia would recognize Israel. In return, Riyadh demands the establishment of a Palestinian state — long opposed by Israeli leaders and potentially in contradiction to Trump’s Gaza plan
His arrival came as Riyadh is set to host a regional summit later this week “to discuss Arab alternatives” to Trump’s widely criticized plan, officials said.
OPEN TO ALTERNATIVE
Worthy News reported earlier that Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, and Kuwait will be represented at the Friday summit.
Washington says “it is open” to alternative proposals from Arab governments, but Rubio stressed that for now, “the only plan is the Trump plan.”
Israel and the U.S. also reaffirmed their commitment “to implementing the ceasefire in Gaza and ensuring that Hamas releases all hostages, including American citizens,” and discussed Syria, Lebanon, and the Red Sea, the U.S. State Department added.
As talks were underway, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham told reporters in Israel on Monday that Jerusalem has “no better partner in destroying radical Islam than Saudi Arabia.”
Graham spoke to reporters after a visiting bipartisan U.S. Senate delegation met with Israeli officials.
Yet he also noticed that there was no “appetite in Israel for an end of the war with Hamas still standing,” calling into question whether an ongoing hostage-ceasefire deal in Gaza would move into its second phase.
PRAYING FOR HOSTAGES
“Pray for the hostages,” Graham said,”but we cannot leave Hamas in charge.”
Yet, in a sign of possible political tensions on Trump’s plan for the Gaza Strip, Graham said there was “very little appetite in the U.S. Senate for the U.S. to take over Gaza in any way, shape, or form.”
Trump said he wants to turn Gaza into “the Riviera of the Middle East” where everyone can live in peace.
Yet on Tuesday, there were no signs of peace arriving soon amid ruined buildings after a war that Hamas-run authorities said killed more than 48,000 people, a death toll difficult to verify independently.
The war in Gaza began after some 1,200 people were killed and hundreds abducted in a Hamas-led attack in Israel on October 7, 2023.
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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