Connect with us

Latest News

No US soldiers would be needed in Gaza plan, Trump says

Published

on

Thousands of displaced Palestinians made the journey from south Gaza to the north of the strip following a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in January [BBC]

US President Donald Trump has restated a vision in which the US would take over Gaza, after officials in his administration appeared to contradict his earlier comments.

“The Gaza Strip would be turned over to the United States by Israel at the conclusion of fighting,” Trump said on Thursday. He reiterated that the idea would mean resettling Palestinians, and that no US soldiers would be needed.

Trump’s resettlement idea has prompted accusations that he is planning ethnic cleansing, and has drawn condemnation from the UN, human rights groups and Arab leaders. Analysts doubt it will ever happen.

After Trump’s first comments on the issue, his officials suggested any relocation would be only temporary.

Under his plan, Trump wrote, Gazans “would have already been resettled in far safer and more beautiful communities, with new and modern homes, in the region”. The US would then be part of an effort to redevelop the enclave, he said.

His post, written on Truth Social, did not make clear whether the two million residents of the Palestinian territory would be invited to return.

Under international law, attempts to forcibly transfer populations from occupied territory are strictly prohibited.

White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said on Wednesday that any displacement would be temporary. In his own comments, made on the same day, Secretary of State Rubio said the idea was for Gazans to leave the territory for an “interim” period while debris was cleared and reconstruction took place.

These views contradicted Trump’s initial comments on the matter. Speaking on Tuesday, when he proposed the development of Gaza into the “Riviera of the Middle East”, Trump suggested that the displacement of Palestinians would be permanent.

“The US will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it too,” he said on Tuesday during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who called the idea “worth paying attention to”.

The announcement took even senior Trump aides by surprise due to a lack of planning around the idea, the New York Times reported, citing four anonymous sources with knowledge of the discussions.

Trump’s fresh comment on Thursday that no American soldiers would be needed was more clearly in agreement with Leavitt, who said the US had not committed to putting “boots on the ground”.

Fifteen months of fighting have left the Gaza Strip, a territory 41km (25 miles) long and 10km (6 miles) wide, largely uninhabitable.

Entire districts have been razed to the ground. Agricultural land where greenhouses once stood has been reduced to sand and rubble.

The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has warned that it could take 21 years to remove and dispose of all debris.

It described the water and sanitation systems as “almost entirely defunct”, warned of mounting rubbish around camps and shelters, and highlighted the risk that chemicals from destroyed solar panels and the munitions being used could contaminate soil and water supplies.

More than 50 million tonnes of debris have accumulated as a result of the destruction, according to the UN body.

The Israeli military launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage.

More than 47,550 people have been killed and 111,600 injured in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

A bar chart showing the average number of lorries that have entered Gaza per day each month since October 2023. It highlights that about 500 mostly commercial lorries a day were entering before October, that fell to nine a day in the first month of the war and in September it was the lowest number since then at 53. The highest number was in April when about 190 lorries entered every day. The data is provided by the UN, which says it doesn't have complete data for commercial vehicles after 7 May.

[BBC]



Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest News

Eran Wickeamaratne named new Sri Lanka Cricket chief

Published

on

By

Former Member of Parliament, Eran Wickeamaratne has been named the chairman of  the Interim Committee appointed to run Sri Lanka Cricket by Sports Minister Sunil Kumara Gamage today [29]

The other Members of the Interim Committee include Roshan Mahanama, Kumar Sangakkara, Sidath Wettimuny. Prakash Schaffter, Dinal Phillips, Thusira Radella, Upul Kumarapperuma and Ms. Avanthi Colombage

Continue Reading

Latest News

President and Exco of Sri Lanka Cricket step down

Published

on

By

Sri Lanka Cricket has announced today (29) that the President of Sri Lanka Cricket and members of the Executive Committee have tendered their resignations.

The decision has been formaly communicated to  President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports.

Continue Reading

Latest News

Ferreira, Shubham, Rajasthan Royals openers hand Punjab Kings their first defeat

Published

on

By

Donovan Ferreira played a blitzing cameo at the death [BCCI]

Shubham Dubey underlined the importance of an Impact Player, Donovan Ferreira proved why Rajasthan Royals were keen to have him traded in, while Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Sooriyavanshi  continued their stellar run as RR handed Punjab kings their first defeat of IPL 2026. In another run-fest in New Chandigarh, where 222 played 228, Ferreira and Dubey added 77 runs off 32 balls for the fifth wicket to turn what looked like a tricky chase at one point into a cakewalk and secured victory with four balls to spare.

Yuzvendra Chahal picked up 3 for 36, while Marcus Stoinis bludgeoned an unbeaten 62 off 22 balls but their returns weren’t enough as RR moved to third place on the points table.

Priyansh Arya was coming into the game with a powerplay strike rate of 260.27. Within his first five balls, he showed why he is one of the most fearless batters going around. He started with a spliced pull off Nandre Burger, before flat-batting him through midwicket and then following up with two of the most audacious strokes. Burger bowled a back-of-a-length ball outside off stump and Arya stood tall and played a nonchalant on-the-up aerial back-foot punch over covers for a clean six. The next ball was carved over backward point, before some luck got him another four. RR had raced to 29 for 0 after two.

At the other end was Jofra Archer. He started the third over with a hard length outswinger, which Arya edged to the vacant slip area. Archer nearly yelled at his captain for not having a slip, but soon got his reward as Arya sliced a 150kph thunderbolt for mid-on. Prabhsimran Singh took on Burger but wasn’t his fluent self. Despite that, PBKS raced to 65 in the powerplay.

Cooper Connolly was off quickly, scoring 30 off 14 balls but he misread a Yash Raj Punja googly and shanked him straight up. Prabhsimran, meanwhile, reached his fifty off 35 balls, but the RR bowlers controlled the middle overs, majorly through their two spinners, Punja and Ravindra Jadeja. Through overs seven to 16, PBKS scored 95 runs, while losing Connolly and Prabhsimran.

Coming into this game, Stoinis had faced 26 balls this IPL. But he showed off once he got his chance. He smashed Archer for two sixes in the 19th over, but reserved his best for the last. Fast bowler Brijesh Sharma had gone for just 18 runs off his first three overs, his slower balls were gripping and hard to hit. But Stoinis smashed the bowler for 24 to power PBKS past 220 as they scored 62 in the last four overs.

Sooryavanshi was quick off the blocks (again), smashing 43 off just 16 balls. After jamming two yorkers, he went 6, 4, 4 against Arshdeep Singh to close the opening over in style. Lockie Ferguson, playing his first match of the season, took time to find his rhythm. Sooryavanshi wasn’t giving him the time. He got a thick outside edge over slip before whipping a 145.1kph scorcher over deep midwicket and then going straight down the ground for six more. RR crossed 50 in just 19 balls but Arshdeep’s around-the-wicket worked as Sooryavanshi sliced him straight up and Shreyas Iyer ran back from mid-off to take a comfortable catch.

Yashasvi Jaiswal was all this while the silent spectator. As soon as Sooryavanshi departed, he went on the offensive against Arshdeep as RR raced to 66 for 1 after four overs. Harpreet Brar, the Impact Player, bowled a two-run fifth over, but Ferguson was taken for runs again with RR racing to 84 for 1 after six.

With the early punches in, PBKS fought back with the help of their spinners. Brar’s four overs cost just 25 runs, which included just one four and one six. Chahal removed Dhruv Jurel with a juicy full toss that was mistimed only as far as wide long-on. Jaiswal reached his fifty off 26 balls but soon sliced Chahal straight to long-off. Riyan Parag also started well but also holed out off Chahal for 29 off 16.

The required rate was exactly 12 when Parag holed out, with RR needing 72 off 36. But the PBKS spinners were done after conceding just 61 off 48 balls, and Dubey and Ferreira cashed in. After Arshdeep’s opening two overs went for 37, his final two went for 31. Dubey crashed Jansen for a four and six in the 16th, Ferguson was smoked for 16 in the 19th and the game had turned in five overs. Ferreira hit the winning runs with a six over long-on to bring up his second IPL fifty and help RR secure two important points. The PBKS fast bowlers leaked 166 off 68 balls, an issue that has been plaguing them for a while.

Brief scores:
Rajasthan Royals 228 for 4 in 19.2 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 51, Vaibhav Sooriyawanshi 43, Dhruv Jurel 16, Riyan Parag 29, Donovan Ferreira 52*,  Shubham Dubey 31*; Arshdeep Singh 1-68, Yuzvendra Chahal 3-36) beat Punjab Kings 222 for 4 in 20 overs (Prabhsimran Singh 59, Priyansh Arya 29, Cooper Conolly 30, Shreyas Iyer 30, Marcus Stoinis 62*; Jofra Archer 1-40, Mandre Burger 1-59, Yash Raj  Punja 2-41) by six wickets

[Cricinfo]

Continue Reading

Trending