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Trump’s proposed US takeover of Gaza Strip elicits positive response across administration

Support for President Donald Trump’s vision for the U.S. to “take over the Gaza Strip,” level it and rebuild the area came flooding in on Tuesday after a news conference announcing the plan.

The comments were made following a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in which Trump claimed the U.S. would take over the Strip and make it safe again.

“The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it, too,” Trump stated. “We’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous, unexplored bombs and other weapons on the site.”

Trump’s sentiments were echoed by many officials across the social media platform X.

ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER LAUDS TRUMP’S LEADERSHIP WHEN ASKED IF BIDEN SHOULD TAKE CREDIT FOR CEASEFIRE

U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu answer questions during a joint press conference in the East Room at the White House in Washington, U.S., February 4, 2025 ( REUTERS/Leah Millis)

“Trump’s proposed USA takeover of the Gaza Strip may sound out of the box, but it is brilliant, historic and the only idea I have heard in 50 years that has a chance of bringing security, peace and prosperity to this troubled region,” Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman wrote.

White House Deputy Chief of Staff and Cabinet Secretary Taylor Budowich also expressed that it was “Time to think different, stop the killing!”

“Pres. Trump’s pursuit of peace and prosperity for all is truly visionary. Gaza shouldn’t be a pile of rubble that provides refuge to terrorists, especially when it so easily can become Dubai 2.0. Time to think different, stop the killing!,” he wrote on X.

People inspect the debris and rubble at the site of Israeli bombardment on a residential block in Jalaa Street in Gaza City on Jan. 14, 2025 amid the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (OMAR AL-QATTAA/AFP via Getty Images)

In a second post, he said that there is a need for lasting peace.

“President Trump’s bold and unwavering pursuit for peace continues with a humanitarian’s heart. The killing must stop, the war must end, and we must realize lasting PEACE. That’s why the United States will work with Israel to secure Gaza and find a lasting home for the Palestinian people,” Budowich stated.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio agreed with the president, saying that “Gaza MUST BE FREE from Hamas. As @POTUS shared today, the United States stands ready to lead and Make Gaza Beautiful Again. Our pursuit is one of lasting peace in the region for all people.”

‘LEVEL IT’: TRUMP SAYS US WILL ‘TAKE OVER’ GAZA STRIP, REBUILD IT TO STABILIZE MIDDLE EAST

Netanyahu said during the news conference with Trump that the Gaza Strip has become “a symbol of death and destruction for so many decades and so bad for the people anywhere near it.”

He also lauded Trump’s tenacity and ability “to think outside the box” during his comments to the press.

Sen. Rick Scott seemingly agreed with Netanyahu, writing in an X post, “Hamas terrorists murdered babies and burned people alive. They are evil monsters. Thank God we finally have a president who is committed to standing with Israel and working with Netanyahu on how to support their efforts to get terrorists out of Gaza and bring every hostage home.”

Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) arrives for the Senate Republican leadership elections at the U.S. Capitol on November 13, 2024 in Washington, DC. The Senate Republican caucus met to vote on new leadership for the 119th Congress. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Congresswoman Beth Van Duyne is one of many who stand for the president’s radical movement to change how this country is being run and agrees this is the right move for peace.

“The world is looking to the United States for leadership and President @realDonaldTrump is delivering lasting peace! Today’s announcement put Hamas, Iran, and all our enemies on notice — the U.S. will NOT continue the status quo that has empowered terrorists and created a humanitarian disaster,” she said.

Not everyone is onboard, though Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry issued a statement to Trump, noting a call for an independent Palestinian state was a “firm, steadfast and unwavering position.”

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirms that the position of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on the establishment of the Palestinian state is a firm, unwavering position, and His Highness the Prime Minister – may God protect him – has affirmed this position in a clear and explicit manner that does not allow for any interpretation under any circumstances,” the statement said.

‘PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH’: TRUMP AND NETANYAHU EXPECTED TO DISCUSS IRAN, HAMAS AT WHITE HOUSE MEETING

Saudi Arabia and the U.S. are in negotiations over a deal to diplomatically recognize Israel in exchange for a security pact among other terms.

“The duty of the international community today is to work to alleviate the severe human suffering endured by the Palestinian people, who will remain committed to their land and will not budge from it,” the Saudi statement said.

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Hamas also wrote a statement criticizing Trump’s comments.

“We reject Trump’s statements in which he said that the residents of the Gaza Strip have no choice but to leave, and we consider them a recipe for creating chaos and tension in the region,” the group said.

Hamas has recently reaffirmed control over the Gaza Strip following the start of the ceasefire and has said they will not release hostages without an end to the war and Israeli forces’ full withdrawal.

February 5, 2025
‘Level it’: Trump says US will ‘take over’ Gaza strip and rebuild it to stabilize Middle East

The U.S. will “take over the Gaza strip,” level it and rebuild the area, President Donald Trump said during a press conference Tuesday evening after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too,” Trump said Tuesday evening in a joint press conference with Netanyahu. “We’ll own it, and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous, unexplored bombs and other weapons on the site.”

“Level the site and get rid of the destroyed buildings, level it out, create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area. Do a real job. Do something different. Just can’t go back. If you go back, it’s going to end up the same way it has for 100 years.”

Netanyahu is the first world leader to meet with Trump at the White House under his second administration.

When asked about taking over the Gaza Strip, Trump said he could see the U.S. in a “long term ownership position” of the piece of land, which would likely bring stability to the Middle East.

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, left, and US President Donald Trump during a news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025. Trump insisted Egypt and Jordan will take in Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, dismissing the countries’ refusal to accept people from the war-shattered territory. Photographer: Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images (Getty Images)

“I see it bringing great stability to that part of the Middle East, and maybe the entire Middle East. And everybody I’ve spoken to — this was not a decision made lightly — everybody I’ve spoken to loves the idea of the United States owning that piece of land. Developing and creating thousands of jobs with something that will be magnificent in a really magnificent area that nobody would know. Nobody can look because all they see is death and destruction and rubble,” Trump said.

The pair discussed the current ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas and its future, Iran’s grip on the Middle East and resettling Gaza residents in other nations.

“In our meetings today, the prime minister and I focused on the future, discussing how we can work together to ensure Hamas is eliminated and ultimately restore peace to a very troubled region. It’s been troubled, but what’s happened in the last four years has not been good,” Trump said during the press conference.

Trump said that the Gaza Strip has become “a symbol of death and destruction for so many decades and so bad for the people anywhere near it.”

“It should not go through a process of rebuilding and occupation by the same people that have really stood there and fought for it and lived there and died there and lived a miserable existence there,” he added.

Netanyahu lauded Trump’s tenacity and ability “to think outside the box” during his comments to the press.

“Your willingness to puncture conventional thinking, thinking that has failed time and time and time again, your willingness to think outside the box with fresh ideas, will help us achieve all these goals,” he said. “And I’ve seen you do this many times. You cut to the chase. You see things others refuse to see. You say things others refuse to say, you know. And after the jaws drop, people scratch their heads and they say, you know, he’s right.”

The Israeli leader continued that his nation’s victory will also be a win for America.

“Israel’s victory will be America’s victory,” Netanyahu said. “We will not only win the war working together, we will win the peace. With your leadership, Mr. President, and our partnership, I believe that we will forge a brilliant future for our region and bring our great alliance to even greater heights.”

February 5, 2025
Trump eyes Abraham Accords expansion, Gaza rebuild with Netanyahu meeting on deck

The Trump administration is eyeing an expansion of the Abraham Accords, hoping to bring new countries into the agreement, and the rebuilding of Gaza, senior administration officials said before the commander in chief’s meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The meeting is set to take place at the White House on Tuesday afternoon, followed by a joint press conference with President Donald Trump and Netanyahu. The meeting and the joint press conference will be the first Trump has held with a world leader since taking office again in January.

ISRAEL’S NETANYAHU DEPARTS FOR US TO MEET WITH TRUMP, HOPING TO STRENGTHEN TIES WITH WASHINGTON

The two leaders are expected to discuss maintaining ceasefire deals and a joint commitment to freeing hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, senior administration officials said.

Officials said Trump is focused on getting all hostages out and ensuring Hamas cannot continue to govern.

Former President Donald Trump meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, in July 2024. (Alex Brandon/The Associated Press)

Trump and Netanyahu are also expected to discuss the second phase of talks on the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal.

“There will be unity in how they intend to pursue that,” one official said.

Beyond the ceasefire agreement, the president is expected to raise the issue of rebuilding Gaza.

A senior administration official said Trump sees Gaza as a “demolition site,” and thinks it is “inhumane to force people to live” there in its current state.

Officials said Trump expects it to take between 10 and 15 years to rebuild Gaza, but said the rebuild is not something the U.S. is going to solve unilaterally.

Meanwhile, senior administration officials said the president hopes for an expansion of the Abraham Accords, which were brokered during the first Trump administration.

The Abraham Accords was a historic peace agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates that normalized relations and created bilateral agreements regarding “investment, tourism, direct flights, security, telecommunications, technology, energy, health care, culture, the environment, the establishment of reciprocal embassies, and other areas of mutual benefit.”

Benjamin Netanyahu leaves Israel for a meeting with President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., February 2025. (Prime Minister’s Office)

“We obviously hope that the expansion of the Abraham Accords will continue and flourish, in this administration,” a senior administration official said, adding that the president sees “an opportunity throughout the region and throughout the world, to, to bring more countries into Abraham Accords.”

THIRD ROUND OF HOSTAGE RELEASES BEGINS AS PART OF HAMAS’ GAZA CEASEFIRE AGREEMENT WITH ISRAEL

“It’s going to take time. It’s not going to happen overnight. But that’s certainly on the top of the agenda,” the official said.

In 2018, the Trump administration moved the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem – a relocation long debated in Washington – and one that showed the U.S. officially recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Also during the first Trump administration, the president recognized Israeli sovereignty of the Golan Heights and withdrew the U.S. from the U.N. Human Rights Council.

The meeting between Trump and Netanyahu is the first since July, when Netanyahu visited Trump’s Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.

That meeting came during the Israeli prime minister’s visit to the U.S. During that visit, Netanyahu addressed Congress and met with former President Joe Biden to meet with families of American hostages held hostage by Hamas.

There are currently 79 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, including six dual U.S.-Israeli citizens.

President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are expected to discuss maintaining ceasefire deals and a joint commitment to freeing hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, senior administration officials said. (Amos Ben-Gershom (GPO)/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Netanyahu, upon traveling to the U.S., said of Trump: “The fact that this will be his first meeting with a leader of a foreign country since his inauguration holds great significance for the State of Israel.”

“First of all, it indicates the strength of the alliance between Israel and the United States. Secondly, it also reflects the strength of our connection; a connection that has already yielded great things for the State of Israel and the region, and has also brought about the historic peace agreements between Israel and four Arab countries – the ‘Abraham Accords’ that President Trump led,” the prime minister said.

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This comes nearly 16 months after the war in Gaza began, prompted by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack against Israel, leading to military retaliation from Israeli forces.

“The decisions we made during the war, combined with the bravery of our IDF soldiers, have already changed the face of the Middle East,” Netanyahu said.

“They have changed it beyond recognition. I believe that with hard work alongside President Trump, we can change it even more for the better,” he said.

Fox News’ Landon Mion, Yael Rotem-Kuriel and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Brooke Singman is a political correspondent and reporter for Fox News Digital, Fox News Channel and FOX Business.

February 4, 2025
Trump’s idea to relocate Palestinians from Gaza gets blowback from Arab nations

A group of powerful Arab nations released a statement on Saturday rejecting President Donald Trump’s proposal that Palestinians in the Gaza Strip be relocated to Egypt and Jordan.

The foreign ministers of Qatar, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, as well as the Secretary-General of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States met in Cairo, Egypt, on Saturday, and released a joint statement afterward detailing matters that the leadership of the powerful Arab countries agreed upon.

Their agreements included “expressing the continued full support for the steadfastness of the Palestinian people on their land and their adherence to their legitimate rights under international law.” The statement said the officials “affirmed their rejection of any violation of these inalienable rights, whether through settlement activities, the expulsion and demolition of homes, land annexation, or the displacement of Palestinians from their land.”

“They also rejected any efforts to encourage the transfer or uprooting of Palestinians from their land, under any circumstances or justifications,” the statement, released in English by the Qatari government, said. “Such actions, they noted, threaten regional stability, exacerbate the conflict, and undermine the prospects for peace and coexistence among the region’s peoples.”

ISRAEL ORDERS UNRWA TO CEASE OPERATIONS IN COUNTRY OVER TERROR TIES: ‘MISERABLY FAILED IN ITS MANDATE’

Qatar’s prime minister and foreign minister Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani attends a meeting of Arab League foreign ministers in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Khaled Elfiqi)

The statement also “welcomes” the cease-fire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas that was brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States.

“The participants also expressed their commitment to working with the administration of US President Donald Trump to pursue a just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East, in line with the two-state solution, and to strive for a conflict-free region,” they said.

Trump was asked in the Oval Office on Friday if he believes that it is a good idea that Egypt and Jordan accept Palestinians from Gaza despite the two countries denying they would do so.

“I think Jordan will take people, yeah, people from Gaza, and I think Egypt will take them also. I mean, I heard somebody said they’re not going to, but I think they will. I feel confident they will,” Trump said.

Israel’s war in Gaza, which was started by the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks that killed 1,200 Israelis, is believed to have eliminated most of the terrorist organization’s grip on the region, but the matter of reconstruction and eventually reformed leadership without terrorist control hangs in the balance amid a fragile cease-fire agreement.

Trump first floated the idea of Egypt and Jordan taking in about 1.5 million people from Gaza while addressing reporters aboard Air Force One last month.

“I’d like Egypt to take people,” Trump said. “You’re talking about probably a million and a half people, and we just clean out that whole thing and say, ‘You know, it’s over.’”

“It’s literally a demolition site right now. Almost everything’s demolished, and people are dying there,” Trump said of the destruction caused by the 15-month war. “So, I’d rather get involved with some of the Arab nations, and build housing in a different location, where they can maybe live in peace for a change.”

Last week, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said the transfer of Palestinians from Gaza “can’t ever be tolerated or allowed.”

Jordan’s foreign minister Ayman Safadi, left, and Saudi foreign minster, Faisal bin Farhan, attend a meeting of Arab League foreign ministers in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Khaled Elfiqi)

ISRAELI PARLIAMENT BANS UNRWA OVER TERRORISM TIES, FACES INTERNATIONAL BACKLASH

“The solution to this issue is the two-state solution. It is the establishment of a Palestinian state,” he reportedly said at a news conference. “The solution is not to remove the Palestinian people from their place. No.”

Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi also said that his country’s opposition to Trump’s idea was “firm and unwavering.”

The Egyptian government said El-Sisi received a call from Trump on Saturday but did not mention the issue.

“The call fostered a positive discussion between the two Presidents, underscoring the critical importance of advancing the implementation of the first and second phases of the ceasefire agreement, and ensuring the stabilization of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip,” according to the Egyptian government read-out. “Additionally, the call emphasized the urgent need to increase the delivery of humanitarian aid and relief to the residents of Gaza.”

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, right, meets with Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi at Tahrir palace in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, Feb 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Khaled Elfiqi)

El-Sisi “reiterated the imperative to reach lasting peace in Middle East,” according to his government. “He affirmed that the international community places its trust in President Trump’s capacity to secure a historic and enduring peace agreement, which would bring an end to the decades-long conflict in the region. This is grounded in President Trump’s commitment to peace, which he underscored in his inaugural address, as a man of peace. President El-Sisi stressed the vital necessity to launch a peace process conducive to a permanent solution in the region.”

Jordan already is home to more than 2 million Palestinians, according to the Associated Press. Egypt has warned of security implications of transferring large numbers of Palestinians to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, bordering Gaza.

Both countries were the first to make peace with Israel, but they support the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, territories that Israel captured from Jordan and Egypt in 1967’s Six-Day War.

The Israeli government ordered the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) to cease its operations in the country as of Thursday amid allegations the agency is involved with the Hamas terrorist group.

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The Arab nations’ statement Saturday also affirmed “the pivotal, indispensable, and irreplaceable role” of UNRWA and “categorically rejected any attempts to bypass or diminish its role.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Danielle Wallace is a breaking news and politics reporter at Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to [email protected] and on X: @danimwallace.

February 2, 2025
First American hostage to be released from Gaza, Hamas says

American-Israeli Keith Siegel is set to be released on Saturday as part of Israel and Hamas’ ceasefire deal. He is the first of the American citizens taken on Oct. 7, 2023 to be released by the terror organization as part of this ceasefire deal.

Siegel and his wife, Aviva, were taken captive during Hamas’ brutal surprise attacks on Oct. 7, 2023. In November 2023, Aviva was released from Hamas captivity as part of a ceasefire and hostage deal early in the war.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Rachel Wolf is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital and FOX Business.

January 31, 2025
Third round of hostages to be released as part of Gaza ceasefire agreement

Hamas began a third round of freeing hostages in Gaza Thursday as part of an ongoing ceasefire agreement with Israel.

Hamas handed female Israeli soldier Agam Berger, 20, to the Red Cross at a ceremony in the heavily destroyed urban refugee camp of Jabaliya in northern Gaza. She was later transferred to the Israel Defense Forces.

FORMER HAMAS HOSTAGE DETAILS HORRORS OF CAPTIVITY, CREDITS KIDNAPPED IDF SOLDIER WITH SAVING HER LIFE

Agam Berger, 19 (Courtesy: Bring Them Home Now)

Another ceremony was planned in the southern city of Khan Younis, in front of the destroyed home of slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. Both were attended by hundreds of people, including masked militants and onlookers.

YARDEN GONEN: THANK YOU, PRESIDENT TRUMP, FOR RESCUING MY SISTER FROM HAMAS

Hamas has agreed to handover three Israelis and five Thai captives on Thursday. In exchange, Israel was expected to release 110 Palestinian prisoners.

Israeli forces monitor activity in the Gaza strip. (IDF)

The truce is aimed at winding down the deadliest and most destructive war ever fought between Israel and Hamas, whose Oct. 7, 2023, attack into Israel sparked the fighting. It has held despite a dispute earlier this week over the sequence in which the hostages were released.

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This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Bradford Betz is a Fox News Digital breaking reporter covering crime, political issues, and much more.

January 30, 2025
Rubio’s foreign aid freeze applies to millions in funding for ‘condoms in Gaza’

Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s decision to freeze foreign aid over the weekend included pulling millions of dollars-worth of U.S. funding for “condoms in Gaza,” a White House official told Fox News Digital.

The revelation came as the official explained that a separate memo from the Office of Management and Budget will temporarily pause grants, loans and federal assistance programs pending a review into whether the funding coincides with President Donald Trump’s executive orders, such as those related to ending diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), the Green New Deal, and funding nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) “that undermine the national interest.”

“If the activity is not in conflict with the President’s priorities, it will continue with no issues,” the White House official told Fox News Digital. “This is similar to how HHS [Department of Health and Human Services] stopped the flow of grant money to the WHO [World Health Organization] after President Trump announced the U.S. withdrawal from the organization. Or how the State Department halted several million dollars going to condoms in Gaza this past weekend.”

RUBIO PAUSES FOREIGN AID FROM STATE DEPARTMENT AND USAID TO ENSURE IT PUTS ‘AMERICA FIRST’

Palestinians attach an incendiary device to inflated plastic bags and condoms to be directed and flown towards Israel, near Rafah along the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel on Aug. 21, 2020. (SAID KHATIB/AFP via Getty Images)

Fox News Digital reached out to the State Department on Tuesday seeking additional information.

The Jerusalem Post reported in 2020 that scores of condoms were being used to create IED-carrying balloons that winds would carry into southern Israel, raising alarm on schoolyards, farmlands and highways.

At the time, the Post reported that the improvised explosive devices – floated into Israel via inflated contraceptives – burned thousands of hectares of land and caused “millions of shekels of damage.” It’s not clear if the practice continues.

Just two days after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, which involved Hamas terrorists brutally raping some of the approximately 1,200 people killed in southern Israel and hundreds of others brought back into Gaza as hostages, a global NGO known as the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) released a statement regarding the resulting war and escalating violence.

The NGO claimed that any blockade of aid shipments into Gaza would infringe on their “enormous gains made in life-saving sexual and reproductive healthcare in this region.”

“Palestinians are systematically denied sexual and reproductive healthcare and rights,” the executive director of a corresponding NGO, the Palestinian Family Planning and Protection Association (PFPPA), said at the time. “Our health system has been repeatedly targeted and depleted by the Israeli occupation, and the more it disintegrates, the more it will hinder the full realization of these rights for women and girls.”

On Sunday, Rubio paused all U.S. foreign assistance funded by or through the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for review.

Palestinians prepare incendiary devices before being attached to inflated condoms and plastic bags, to be directed and flown towards Israel, near Rafah along the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel on Aug. 21, 2020. (SAID KHATIB/AFP via Getty Images)

SECRETARY OF STATE RUBIO HAILS RELEASE OF US PRISONER IN BELARUS AS CONTROVERSY HANGS OVER NATION’S ELECTION

The move came in response to Trump’s executive order, “Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid,” issued last week directing a sweeping 90-day pause on most U.S. foreign assistance disbursed through the State Department.

The State Department said Sunday that Rubio was initiating a review of “all foreign assistance programs to ensure they are efficient and consistent with U.S. foreign policy under the America First agenda.”

“President Trump stated clearly that the United States is no longer going to blindly dole out money with no return for the American people. Reviewing and realigning foreign assistance on behalf of hardworking taxpayers is not just the right thing to do, it is a moral imperative. The Secretary is proud to protect America’s investment with a deliberate and judicious review of how we spend foreign assistance dollars overseas,” a State Department spokesperson said Sunday.

“The mandate from the American people was clear – we must refocus on American national interests,” the statement added. “The Department and USAID take their role as stewards of taxpayer dollars very seriously. The implementation of this Executive Order and the Secretary’s direction furthers that mission. As Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said, ‘Every dollar we spend, every program we fund, and every policy we pursue must be justified with the answer to three simple questions: Does it make America safer? Does it make America stronger? Does it make America more prosperous?’”

The wind propels refrigerant gas-filled condoms attached to incendiary devices into Israeli territory after being released by a group of masked Palestinians near the Israel-Gaza border. (Mohammed Talatene/picture alliance via Getty Images)

Rubio had specifically exempted only emergency food programs and military aid to Israel and Egypt from the freeze on foreign assistance.

On Monday, at least 56 senior USAID officials were placed on leave pending an investigation into alleged efforts to thwart Trump’s orders, the Associated Press reported, citing a current official and a former official at USAID.

An internal USAID notice sent late Monday and obtained by the AP said new acting administrator Jason Gray had identified “several actions within USAID that appear to be designed to circumvent the President’s Executive Orders and the mandate from the American people.” “As a result, we have placed a number of USAID employees on administrative leave with full pay and benefits until further notice while we complete our analysis of these actions,” Gray wrote.

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The senior agency officials put on leave were experienced employees who had served in multiple administrations, including Trump’s, the former USAID official said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Danielle Wallace is a breaking news and politics reporter at Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to [email protected] and on X: @danimwallace.

January 28, 2025
Palestinians flock to northern Gaza after Israel lifts closure

Thousands of Palestinians are streaming back into the northern Gaza Strip Monday after Israel lifted its closure as part of the cease-fire and hostage release deal with Hamas.

Starting at 7 a.m. local time, Palestinians were allowed to cross on foot without inspection via a coastal road passing through part of a military zone bisecting the territory just south of Gaza City, that Israel carved out early in the war. A checkpoint for vehicles opened later on Gaza’s main north-south highway, where traffic was backed up for around 2 miles.

“The transfer of militants or weapons via these routes to the northern Gaza Strip will be considered a breach of the agreement. Do not cooperate with any terrorist entity that may try to exploit you to transfer weapons or prohibited materials,” Israel’s military warned in a statement, according to Reuters.

Hamas is calling the return “a victory for our people, and a declaration of failure and defeat for the (Israeli) occupation and transfer plans,” according to the Associated Press.

ISRAEL, HAMAS REACH DEAL TO ALLOW PALESTINIANS TO RETURN TO NORTHERN GAZA

An aerial photograph taken by a drone shows displaced Palestinians returning to their homes in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday, Jan. 27, 2025, following Israel’s decision to allow thousands of them to go back for the first time since the early weeks of the 15-month war with Hamas. (AP/Mohammad Abu Samra)

Yasmin Abu Amshah, a mother of three, told the AP that she walked about four miles to reach her damaged but still habitable home in Gaza City, where she also saw her younger sister for the first time in more than a year.

“It was a long trip, but a happy one,” she said. “The most important thing is that we returned.”

Around a million people fled to southern Gaza in October 2023, while hundreds of thousands remained in the north, which had some of the heaviest fighting and the worst destruction of the war. In all, around 90% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have been displaced, the news agency says.

Israel had delayed the opening of the crossing, which was supposed to happen over the weekend, saying it would not allow Palestinians north until a female civilian hostage, Arbel Yehoud, was released. Israel said she should have been released before four young female soldiers, who were freed on Saturday.

ISRAELI VICTIMS OF TERROR CONCERNED WITH MURDERERS’ RELEASE FROM PRISON, RELIEVED 7 HOSTAGES BACK HOME

Displaced Palestinians return to their homes in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday. (AP/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Hamas in turn accused Israel of violating the agreement by not opening the crossing.

The Gulf nation of Qatar, a key mediator with Hamas, then announced early Monday that an agreement had been reached to release Yehoud along with two other hostages.

Hamas also handed over a list of information about the hostages to be released in the ceasefire’s six-week first phase.

Palestinians are seen Monday walking along a road to northern Gaza. (AP/Abdel Kareem Hana)

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Under that phase, Hamas is to free a total of 33 hostages in exchange for the release of nearly 2,000 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. So far under the truce, the terrorist organization has released seven hostages in exchange for more than 300 prisoners. Shiri Bibas and her children Ariel and Kfir were expected to be released over the weekend, but that did not happen. Shiri’s husband, Yarden Bibas, is also among the hostages.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Greg Norman is a reporter at Fox News Digital.

January 27, 2025
Israel, Hamas reach deal to release hostages. Palestinians to return to Gaza Strip

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced Sunday that an agreement has been reached with Hamas to release additional hostages starting this Thursday, while also allowing Palestinians to return to the northern part of the Gaza Strip beginning Monday morning.

Qatar helped mediate the agreement, which is expected to ease the first major crisis of the fragile ceasefire between Hamas and Israel.

“After firm and determined negotiations led by Prime Minister Netanyahu, Hamas has backed down and will conduct an additional phase of hostage releases this coming Thursday,” Netanyahu’s office said. “As part of this phase, Israeli citizen Arbel Yehud, soldier Agam Berger, and one additional hostage will be released.”

The statement also noted that three additional hostages will be released on Saturday as part of the agreement.

ISRAELI MILITARY CHIEF STEPS DOWN OVER OCTOBER 7 HAMAS MASSACRE: ‘WEIGHS ON ME EVERY DAY’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel and Hamas reached an agreement for the release of additional hostages and for Palestinians to return to the northern part of the Gaza Strip. (Getty Images)

Israel confirmed Hamas handed over a list that specified the condition of the hostages expected to be released in the first stage. Local media also reported the list specified the number of living and dead hostages, though names were not included.

Israeli officials claim most of the 26 remaining hostages are alive, which coincides with the list Hamas provided.

Netanyahu’s office also said Israel will allow Palestinians to return to the northern part of the Gaza Strip beginning Monday morning under the agreement with Hamas.

CEASEFIRE DISPUTES BETWEEN ISRAEL AND HAMAS, HEZBOLLAH THROW REGION INTO TURMOIL

Hamas is believed to be holding 26 hostages, as of Sunday. (Reuters/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/File Photo)

Netanyahu reiterated that Israel will not tolerate any violation of the agreement between the two parties, adding that he will continue to push for the return of all hostages, dead or alive.

Likewise, the White House released a statement on Sunday afternoon saying the arrangement between Israel and Lebanon will be monitored by the U.S. and will remain in effect until Feb. 18, 2025.

“The Government of Lebanon, the Government of Israel, and the Government of the United States will also begin negotiations for the return of Lebanese prisoners captured after October 7, 2023,” the statement read.

HAMAS RELEASES 4 FEMALE HOSTAGES AS PART OF ISRAEL CEASEFIRE

President Donald Trump shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate on July 26. (Amos Ben-Gershom (GPO) / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The agreement between Israel and Hamas comes after the former accused the latter of changing the order of hostages it had planned to release. As a result, Israeli forces blocked thousands of Palestinians from returning to northern Gaza.

Israeli forces also announced Friday that they would not withdraw from southern Lebanon as the ceasefire requires until the Lebanese government fully implements its own responsibilities. According to the agreement, both groups were expected to make withdrawals by Sunday.

“IDF troops operating in southern Lebanon fired warning shots to remove threats in a number of areas where suspects were identified approaching the troops,” the IDF wrote in a statement earlier Sunday.

BITTERSWEET REJOICING AS FIRST HOSTAGES RETURN TO ISRAEL AFTER 471 DAYS IN CAPTIVITY

President Donald Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago estate back in July. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

The disputes came just after President Donald Trump called for Egypt and Jordan to accept refugees from Gaza to “clean out” the region.

“I’d like Egypt to take people,” Trump said. “You’re talking about probably a million and a half people, and we just clean out that whole thing and say, ‘You know, it’s over.’”

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Trump said he applauded Jordan for accepting Palestinian refugees but that he told the king: “I’d love for you to take on more, because I’m looking at the whole Gaza Strip right now, and it’s a mess. It’s a real mess.”

Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.

Greg Wehner is a breaking news reporter for Fox News Digital.

Story tips and ideas can be sent to [email protected] and on Twitter @GregWehner.

January 27, 2025
Israel, Hamas cease-fire deal could enable rearming of Gaza terrorists

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JERUSALEM—Scenes of armed and uniformed Hamas terrorists could be seen in Gaza on Sunday as the first three Israeli female hostages were released as the cease-fire deal came into effect.

Israeli news agency TPS-IL reported that groups of armed men, suspected terrorists in the central Gaza area of Deir al-Balah, celebrated after the cease-fire and quoted them as chanting, “It is continuous by God’s permission to kill the last Zionist soldier in our holy country,” as cars honked horns and music blared.

The agreement could enable Hamas to reorganize its terrorists in Gaza and repopulate the northern part of the Gaza Strip that borders Israel, according to some concerned Israeli military experts.

BITTERSWEET REJOICING AS FIRST HOSTAGES RETURN TO ISRAEL AFTER 471 DAYS IN CAPTIVITY

Hamas terrorists emerge in a show of strength escorting Red Cross vehicles carrying three Israeli hostages to be released as part of the cease-fire deal. (TPS-IL)

“Despite significant military achievements against many of the Iranian terror proxies around it, Israel has been forced to agree to a very bad deal that leaves Hamas in power. As the leaders of Hamas have repeatedly stated, including after the declaration of the cease-fire, Hamas intends to continue on its path of Jihad against Israel until Israel is completely eliminated,” former Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman, Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, told Fox News Digital.

He continued, “Israel is held at gunpoint by the Hamas terror organization and has agreed to release almost 2,000 convicted Palestinian terrorists, to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and to temporarily cease-fire in order to repatriate 33 Israeli hostages.”

Following the initial announcement of last week’s deal, Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas official, reportedly boasted that his movement plans to commit a second October 7 massacre of Israelis, according to a Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) translation of his remarks.

He reportedly bragged about the first slaughter of over 1,200 Israelis, including more than 40 Americans, on October 7, 2023, and declared plans to launch new mass murders. “October 7 Will Remain A Source Of Pride To Our People And Our Resistance, And Will Be Passed Down From Generation To Generation,” declared al-Hayya.

Hamas terrorists emerging from the shadows as they surround Red Cross vehicles. (TPS-IL)

He said the jihadi organization will expel Israel from Palestine and Jerusalem and that this will happen soon, adding, “We will never forget and never forgive,” and vowing that Israel’s crimes will be punished, “even if it takes time.”

Conricus, a senior fellow for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said that only “Due to overwhelming international pressure applied on Israel throughout the last 15 months, which has prevented Israel from exercising the needed amount of leverage and pressure on Hamas in Gaza, this extortion deal is regrettably probably the best way of saving Israeli hostages.”

Retired IDF Brig. Gen. Amir Avivi (Res) told Fox News Digital that at this stage, the government is prioritizing bringing back the hostages. It is obviously urgent. Their situation is very bad.” He added “The government intends to go back fighting after the first stage unless there will be another cease-fire to get all the hostages. But there is no intention to give up destroying Hamas and creating a new reality in Gaza.”

BIDEN BALKS WHEN ASKED IF TRUMP DESERVES CREDIT FOR ISRAEL-HAMAS CEASE-FIRE DEAL: ‘IS THAT A JOKE?’

Hamas terrorists wave to Gazans during Sunday’s release of three Israeli hostages. (TPS-IL)

Caroline Glick, a conservative Israeli commentator, who is well versed in the Jewish state’s campaign to defeat Hamas, said on her podcast, “What we’re having now is a situation where we are being forced permanently into this position where we are not allowed to win because that is what the cease-fire effectively does to Israel.”

The cease-fire-for-hostages deal comes at a time when Israel has largely degraded Hamas’ military power. Hamas is in a feeble condition. Hezbollah, the main Hamas ally in the region, cut a cease-fire agreement with Israel and removed one of Iran-backed fronts against the Jewish state.

Iran’s regime has launched no new strikes against Israel since Jerusalem countered its October aerial attack.

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Suspected terrorists in Gaza come out of hiding as cease-fire for-hostages deal gets underway in Gaza’s Deir al-Balah area. (Majdi Fathi/TPS-IL)

The deal contains deep concessions for Israel. The Jewish state will release up to 2,000 Palestinian terrorists, including over a hundred serving life sentences.

The expectation is based on previous releases of Palestinian terrorists for Israeli hostages involved in the Palestinian murderers returning to fight Israel.

TPS-IL reported on Monday that an estimated 20,000 terrorists from Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other terror groups have been killed in the war. On Sunday, it was also reported that Izz al-Din Haddad, commander of Hamas’s Northern Brigade, who oversaw Sunday’s transfer of three Israeli hostages to the Red Cross, has been tapped as the Hamas leader to rebuild the terror organization.

January 23, 2025