Palestinian Authority have no role in Gaza, says Netanyahu

While meeting Wednesday with US Vice President JD Vance, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed willingness to assist in implementing the next stages of Washington’s Gaza ceasefire and hostage release plan, Israeli television reported, as the Trump administration pushes to advance its proposal for ending the Israel-Hamas war.In a separate report, the network said that Netanyahu outlined several red lines to the US in recent days, including absolute opposition to any Turkish presence in the Gaza Strip and to the Palestinian Authority or Hamas playing a governing role there “the day after” the war. He is also said to have insisted that a full IDF withdrawal could only take place after Hamas is fully disarmed and the Strip demilitarized.

Earlier, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says that the Knesset’s move toward the annexation of West Bank would threaten President Donald Trump’s plan to end the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza. Rubio tells reporters as he departs Washington for Israel, adding that West Bank annexation would be “counterproductive and “threatening.” Last month, Trump broke his silence on potential Israeli annexation of the West Bank amid mounting Arab opposition, vowing that he wouldn’t allow the move.

Saudi Arabia denounces the Knesset’s initial votes in favor of two bills on West Bank annexation, saying they are aimed at “legitimizing Israeli sovereignty over illegal colonial settlement.” “The kingdom stresses its complete rejection of all settlements and expansionist violations perpetrated by the Israeli occupation authorities,” the Saudi foreign ministry says in a statement. “The kingdom reiterates its support for the inherent and historical right of the Palestinian people to establish their independent state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, in accordance with relevant international resolutions.”