Israel security cabinet to discuss new phase of Gaza truce

by Jay Deshmukh with Leon Bruneau in Riyadh

Israel's security cabinet was set to discuss on Monday the next phase of the ceasefire with Hamas, as top U.S. diplomat Marco Rubio began a visit to Saudi Arabia where he will push Donald Trump's proposal for a U.S. takeover of Gaza.

Rubio travelled to Riyadh from Israel, where he kicked off his first Middle East trip as Trump's secretary of state.

"Hamas cannot continue as a military or a government force... they must be eliminated," Rubio said in Israel of the Palestinian Islamist group whose October 7, 2023 attack triggered a 15-month war that has devastated Gaza.

Standing beside him, Netanyahu said the two allies had "a common strategy", and that "the gates of hell will be opened" if all hostages held by militants in Gaza are not freed.

The comments came a day after Hamas freed three Israeli hostages in exchange for 369 Palestinian prisoners -- the sixth such swap under the ceasefire deal, which the United States helped mediate along with Qatar and Egypt.

Israel and Hamas have accused each other of violating the ceasefire, which has been further strained by Trump's widely condemned proposal to take control of rubble-strewn Gaza and move its more than two million residents out of the territory.

"We discussed Trump's bold vision for Gaza's future and will work to ensure that vision becomes a reality," Netanyahu said.

The scheme that Trump outlined earlier this month as Netanyahu visited Washington lacked details, but he said it would entail moving Gazans to Jordan or Egypt.

- 'The only plan' -

The United States, Israel's top ally and weapons supplier, says it is open to alternative proposals from Arab governments, but Rubio has said for now, "the only plan is the Trump plan".

However, Saudi Arabia and other Arab states have rejected his proposal, and instead favour the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Sunday said a Palestinian state would be "the only guarantee" of lasting Middle East peace.

After Saudi Arabia, Rubio will also travel to the United Arab Emirates.

The United States has been pushing for a potentially historic deal in which Saudi Arabia would recognise Israel, but Trump's Gaza plan is complicating that effort.

Hamas and Israel are implementing the first, 42-day phase of the ceasefire, which came close to collapse last week.

"At any moment the fighting could resume. We hope that the calm will continue and that Egypt will pressure Israel to prevent them from restarting the war and displacing people," said Nasser al-Astal, 62, a retired teacher in southern Gaza's Khan Yunis.

Since the truce took effect on January 19, a total of 19 Israeli hostages have been released in exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners.

Out of 251 people seized in Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which sparked the war, 70 remain in Gaza, including 35 the Israeli military says are dead.

In a statement, Rubio condemned Hamas's hostage-taking as "sick depravity" and called for the immediate release of all remaining captives, living and dead, particularly five Israeli-American dual nationals.

Negotiations on a second phase of the truce, aimed at securing a more lasting end to the war, could begin this week in Doha, a Hamas official and another source familiar with the talks have said.

Netanyahu's office said he would convene a meeting of his security cabinet on Monday to discuss phase two.

It said the prime minister was also dispatching negotiators to Cairo on Monday to discuss the "continued implementation" of phase one.

The team would "receive further directives for negotiations on Phase II" after the cabinet meeting, the office said.

- 'Finish the job' -

The Gaza war has rippled across the Middle East, triggering violence in Yemen and Lebanon, where Iran backs militant groups.

Israel fought a related war with Hamas's Lebanese ally Hezbollah, severely weakening itbefore a ceasefire took effect on November 27.

Israeli troops were meant to withdraw over a 60-day period but this was later extended to February 18.

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said Sunday "Israel must fully withdraw" on the Tuesday deadline.

"It is the responsibility of the Lebanese state" to exert every effort "to make Israel withdraw", he said in a televised address.

There have also been limited direct strikes by Iran and Israel against each other.

Rubio called Iran the "single greatest source of instability in the region".

Netanyahu said that with the support of the Trump administration, "I have no doubt that we can and will finish the job" against Iran.

Iran on Monday condemned Netanyahu's remarks, calling them "a gross violation of international law and the United Nations Charter".

Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,211 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 48,271 people in Gaza, the majority of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory that the United Nations considers reliable.

© Agence France-Presse