International
Trump says that the US will control Gaza and Hamas responds that it will not allow it
US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the United States “will take control” of the Gaza Strip in the long term and rebuild it, turning it into the new “Middle East River”, after permanently resettling the Palestinians in other countries.
“I don’t want to be funny or smart, but the Middle East Riviera… This could be so magnificent,” Trump said at a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
After this announcement, the former Israeli Minister of National Security, the settler and anti-Arab Itamar Ben Gvir, urged Netanyahu to announce “the adoption of the plan as soon as possible” to expel the Palestinians from Gaza.
Hamas, for its part, has said that it will not allow the plans announced by Trump to be fulfilled and described his proposal as “racist.”
“The (Palestinian) people who have stood firm for 15 months (of war) against the most powerful military machine and the most criminal Army, and who thwarted the attempt to displace it, will remain attached to their land and will not accept that plan no matter the cost,” Hamas spokesman Abdul Latif al Qanou said in a statement.
“The American racist position is consistent with the position of the Israeli extreme right to displace our people and liquidate their cause,” continued Qanou, who called on the international community to reject Trump’s statements and support the Palestinians’ right to self-determination in the face of Israeli occupation.
China has expressed its opposition to the position of the US president and has reiterated the need to seek a path towards a “two-state solution” while the Kremlin has preferred to stay on the sidelines.
“We oppose the forced displacement of the residents of the Gaza Strip. China hopes that all parties will accept the ceasefire and that a two-state political solution will be returned,” Foreign Affairs spokesman Lin Jian said at a press conference.
The Chinese spokesman added in the daily appearance, the first after a week suspended by the Lunar New Year holidays, that the parties involved must “push the Palestinian issue back towards the right path.”
“That involves an arrangement based on the ‘two-state solution’ that aims at lasting peace in the Middle East,” he warned.
On the other hand, Russia, with which the United States maintains a tense relationship, refrained from criticizing the proposal of the US president, although he clarified that they “have heard” it and that they have also followed the statements in this regard from Egypt or Jordan, countries that also oppose the intentions of the tycoon.
For his part, the president of the Palestinian National Authority (ANP), Mahmud Abbas, rejected the proposal and recalled that the enclave is an “integral part” of the Palestinian State.
“We will not allow the rights of our people, for which we have been fighting for decades and for whom we have made great sacrifices, to be violated,” Abbas said in a message collected by the official Palestinian news agency, Wafa.
In his message, Abbas said that the rights of the Palestinians are not negotiable, and that no one can make decisions about the future of the Palestinians except themselves.
The president, who also chairs the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), also thanked Saudi Arabia for its rejection of the forced expulsion of Gazans, and asked the UN to take “urgent” measures to protect international resolutions, which recognize the right to return of Palestinians displaced by Israel.
Huséin al Sheij, the general secretary of the PLO and Abbas’s right-hand man, also expressed his rejection of Trump’s plan and said that the two-state solution, one Israeli and one Palestinian, is the only guarantee of peace in the Middle East.
“Here we were born, here we live and here we will die,” the official said in a message.
Trump did not rule out deploying US troops to support the reconstruction of Gaza and assured that the US will do “whatever it takes” to complete that project.
This is the first time that Trump, who campaigned with the promise of taking the US out of the wars in the Middle East, speaks of a direct long-term involvement in Gaza and also the first time he suggests that the Palestinians should be permanently resettled in other countries.
Specifically, at the press conference, a journalist asked him what this US occupation would consist of and if it would be prolonged, to which Trump responded in the affirmative and said that he contemplates a “long-term ownership position” on the Gaza Strip.
The Palestinians claim the Gaza Strip as part of a future state along with the West Bank and East Jerusalem, so the displacement of the two million people living in the enclave and their real estate development by the US would put an end to the concept of the Palestinian State as it has been conceived so far.
Asked about it, Trump avoided expressing support for the “two-state solution”, which has been the traditional US policy on the conflict for decades, and reiterated his idea that the people of Gaza be resettled in other countries.
Since his return to power on January 20, Trump has reiterated this proposal on several occasions and insisted that Jordan and Egypt should accept more Palestinian refugees from Gaza, an idea flatly rejected by those two countries, as well as by the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the Palestinian Authority and the Arab League.
For the first time, in statements to the press at the beginning of his meeting with Netanyahu in the Oval Office, Trump suggested that this resettlement should be “permanent” and tried to frame it as a humanitarian measure, stating that it was impossible to believe that someone would want to remain in a territory devastated by war, which he described as a “demolition zone”.
During the meeting, in addition to the future of Gaza, both leaders talked about the fragile ceasefire with Hamas, the normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia and the growing tension with Iran.
The visit was an international endorsement for Netanyahu, who left Israel for the first time since the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against him in November, a decision that Washington has strongly condemned and whose jurisdiction it does not recognize.
Netanyahu took from Trump not only comments that satisfy the Israeli far-right, but also concrete actions in support of Israel.
Before meeting with Netanyahu, Trump signed an executive order to continue suspending funds to the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) and end US participation in the United Nations Human Rights Council, which Netanyahu accuses of being partial against Israel.
Central America
Senator Van Hollen Meets with Deported MS-13 Member in El Salvador; Trump and Bukele React
U.S. Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen, representing the state of Maryland, held a meeting in El Salvador with deported MS-13 gang member Kilmar Ábrego García, a member of the criminal group classified by the U.S. government as a terrorist organization.
“Kilmar Ábrego García, miraculously resurrected from the ‘extermination camps’ and ‘torture chambers,’ now sipping margaritas with Senator Van Hollen in the tropical paradise of El Salvador!” wrote President Nayib Bukeleon X (formerly Twitter), sharing photos of Van Hollen, Ábrego García, and a lawyer sitting together at a Salvadoran hotel.
The deported gang member is seen wearing a plaid shirt and a flat-brimmed cap, seated at a table with glasses and coffee cups. The senator also shared images of the meeting on his own social media accounts.
Bukele reaffirmed that Ábrego will remain in El Salvador and will not be returned to the United States.
“Now that his health has been confirmed, he has earned the honor of remaining under the custody of El Salvador,” Bukele added.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump criticized the senator’s meeting with Ábrego on Truth Social, calling Van Hollen “a fool” for advocating for Ábrego’s return to the U.S.
International
Pope Francis Appears for Easter Blessing, Calls for Peace and Religious Freedom
Pope Francis, still recovering from pneumonia, appeared on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican on Easter Sunday and, with a faint voice, wished a “Happy Easter” to the thousands of faithful gathered to celebrate the Resurrection of Christ.
A month after being discharged from a lengthy hospital stay, the presence of the 88-year-old pontiff had remained uncertain, with the Vatican not confirming his attendance ahead of time.
Eventually, the pope made a brief appearance in a wheelchair shortly after 12:00 p.m. (10:00 GMT) to deliver his traditional “Urbi et Orbi” blessing (“to the city and to the world”).
Although no longer wearing an oxygen cannula, the Argentine Jesuit relied on a close aide to read his Easter message, which touched on major global conflicts.
Francis condemned the “dramatic and unworthy humanitarian crisis” in Gaza and called for a ceasefire, while also expressing concern over the “growing climate of antisemitism spreading across the globe.”
He further emphasized the importance of religious freedom and freedom of thought, stating that without mutual respect, “peace is not possible.”
International
Thousands rally nationwide against Trump’s threat to U.S. democracy
Thousands of protesters gathered on Saturday (April 19, 2025) in major cities like New York and Washington, as well as in small communities across the United States, in a second wave of demonstrations against President Donald Trump. The crowds denounced what they view as growing threats to the country’s democratic ideals.
In New York City, demonstrators of all ages rallied in front of the Public Library near Trump Tower, holding signs accusing the president of undermining democratic institutions and judicial independence.
Many protesters also criticized Trump’s hardline immigration policies, including mass deportations and raids targeting undocumented migrants.
“Democracy is in grave danger,” said Kathy Valyi, 73, the daughter of Holocaust survivors. She told AFP that the stories her parents shared about Adolf Hitler’s rise to power in 1930s Germany “are happening here now.”
In Washington, demonstrators voiced concern over what they see as Trump’s disregard for long-standing constitutional norms, such as the right to due process.
Senator Van Hollen Meets with Deported MS-13 Member in El Salvador; Trump and Bukele React
Pope Francis Appears for Easter Blessing, Calls for Peace and Religious Freedom
Thousands rally nationwide against Trump’s threat to U.S. democracy
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