Washington, Jan 19 (IANS) US President-elect Donald Trump has said that he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “keep doing what has to be done” while emphasising his desire to see the war between Israel and Hamas end.
He again warned that “all hell will break out” if both parties do not uphold the ceasefire-hostage agreement.
Trump told NBC News in a phone interview on Saturday that he plans to meet with Netanyahu “fairly shortly” but declined to share more details about a possible meeting.
He said he told Netanyahu “this has to end” but that he should “just keeping doing what you have to do”.
When asked if he was confident hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza would be released as part of the agreement, Trump said, “Well, we’re going to see very soon, and it better hold.”
He added that the US will demand “respect” to ensure the agreement will be observed and warned of consequences if it does not hold.
“The United States has to get respected again, and it has to get respected fast. But respect is the primary word that I use,” he said.
“If they respect us, it will hold. If they don’t respect us, all hell will break out.”
Trump’s incoming national security adviser Mike Waltz and his incoming Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff worked alongside the Biden administration in helping facilitate the ceasefire agreement, which is expected to go into effect on Sunday.
Currently, 33 hostages are set to be released in exchange for 1,904 Palestinian prisoners beginning on Sunday, though Hamas has yet to provide a list of names to Israel.
Trump told NBC his administration will uphold the ceasefire with “good government”.
“Respect. The United States has to be respected again, and it has to be respected fast. But respect is the primary word that I use,” he said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he stuck to three “fundamental principles” in the negotiations that led to the ceasefire-for-hostages deal agreed with Hamas.
First, he said in a televised address on Saturday, was Israel’s right to return to war, with the backing of the United States, if negotiations on the second phase of the deal break down.
Secondly, Netanyahu said he fought for a “significant increase” in the number of living hostages to be released in the first stage of the deal.
He claimed to have “nearly doubled” that number since discussions in May, but did not specify.
Thirty-three hostages are expected to be released by Hamas in the first stage of the deal, but it remains unclear how many of them are living.
Israel has typically included hostages who have died but whose remains have not been returned to Israel among its official hostage tally.
The third principle, according to Netanyahu, was that Israel would maintain full control over the Philadelphi Corridor — the thin strip of land along the Gaza-Egypt border — and the security buffer zone surrounding the entire Gaza Strip.
Israel’s continued military presence in the Philadelphi Corridor was previously a sticking point in negotiations, but Netanyahu said Saturday that, “contrary to all the reports I hear from the outside,” Israel was “not only not reducing the forces there — we are even slightly increasing them”.
–IANS
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