A “humanitarian city” and the Trump/Netanyahu Peace Prize
"WASHINGTON — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented US President Donald Trump on Monday with a letter he sent to the Norwegian Nobel Committee nominating the latter for a Nobel Peace Prize.At the opening of their White House dinner, Netanyahu rose to his feet and surprised Trump with the letter.“It’s well deserved, and you should get it,” Netanyahu said.“Wow,” Trump replied. “Coming from you in particular, this is very meaningful.”In the letter, Netanyahu praised Trump’s “steadfast and exceptional dedication to promoting peace, security, and stability around the world.”He wrote that the Abraham Accords are “foremost” among Trump’s achievements in creating peace.“President Trump’s vision and bold leadership promoted innovative diplomacy defined not by conflict and extremism but by cooperation, dialogue, and shared prosperity,” Netanyahu continued."https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-surprises-trump-with-nobel-recommendation-as-leaders-stress-coordination/And also:-"[Israel]Defense Minister Israel Katz tells reporters in a briefing today that he instructed the IDF and the ministry to bring forward a plan to establish a new “humanitarian city” in the southern Gaza Strip, on the ruins of Rafah.The idea of the humanitarian area, according to Katz, is to accommodate initially some 600,000 Palestinians who have been living in the Mawasi area on the coast after being displaced from elsewhere in the Strip, after screening them to ensure Hamas operatives are not entering.Palestinians will not be allowed to leave the zone, he says.Eventually, the idea is to bring the entire Palestinian civilian population to the zone while the IDF secures it from a distance, as international bodies work to manage the area. An additional four aid distribution sites would be established in the area, according to Katz.Katz also emphasizes his ambition to encourage Palestinians to “voluntarily emigrate” from the Gaza Strip to other countries, saying this plan “should be fulfilled.”It’s unclear if the zone would be used as a transit point, as described in a Reuters report earlier today that detailed plans for “Humanitarian Transit Areas” where Gazans could “temporarily reside, deradicalize, re-integrate and prepare to relocate if they wish to do so.”The director general of the Defense Ministry, Amir Baram, has already begun advancing planning for the zone, which Katz stresses will not be run by the IDF, but instead by international bodies.Katz doesn’t specify which international organizations would operate the city, and other than the Israeli and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, it is unlikely that any will cooperate given that the plan aims to displace the entire Palestinian population of the Strip.There are also concerns that Israel will establish settlements in the areas it forcibly evacuates. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that is not his plan, but he is beholden to far-right coalition partners who are determined to see it through."https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/katz-calls-for-plan-to-confine-all-gazans-in-humanitarian-city-to-be-built-over-ruins-of-rafah/"I love it when a plan comes together"
David Ainsworth ● 16d4 Comments