Anti-Israel protesters rallied outside the White House on Tuesday evening after Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit with President Donald Trump earlier in the day.
Amid a sea of Gaza flags and signs, some protesters waved the flag of the terrorist group Hamas and the Gaza flag with a Hamas soldier printed on it.
Trump shocked critics on Tuesday during Netanyahu’s visit when he suggested plans for the United States to “take over” and “level” the Gaza Strip and relocate its 1.8 million Palestinian residents, which would require them to seek their livelihoods elsewhere in the Middle East.
“I strongly believe that the Gaza Strip, which has been a symbol of death and destruction…for so many decades—devastating for the people living there and for those anywhere near it—should not go through another cycle of rebuilding and occupation by the same people who have fought, lived, died and suffered in that place,” the president said.
‘LEVEL IT’: TRUMP SAYS US WILL ‘TAKE OVER’ GAZA STRIP, REBUILD IT TO STABILIZE MIDDLE EAST
“History … can’t keep repeating itself,” he added.
Netanyahu is the first world leader to meet with Trump at the White House under his second administration. The Israeli prime minister told reporters Tuesday that he has three goals in terms of Israel-Gaza relations, one of which is to “make sure that Gaza never poses a threat to Israel again.”
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“President Trump is taking it to a much higher level,” Netanyahu said. “He sees a different … future for that piece of land that has been the focus of so much terrorism — so much, so many attacks against us … so many trials and so many tribulations. He has a different idea, and I think it’s worth paying attention to this.”
He added that “Israel’s victory will be America’s victory.”
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Their meeting included discussions of the current ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, Iran’s grip on the Middle East and resettling Gaza residents in other nations.
Hamas and Israel’s recent ceasefire deal, which paused a deadly 15-month war that began in October 2023, has led Hamas to release 10 Israeli hostages and five Thai nationals abducted on Oct. 7, 2023, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and increased humanitarian aid into Gaza. Six Americans remain in Gaza.
More than 46,000 Palestinians died in the war, half of which are believed to be women and children, though that number could be higher, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. More than 90% of the roughly 2 million Palestinians living in Gaza were displaced during the war.
Fox News Digital’s Efrat Lachter and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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