WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s administration did not comment on reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu favored a complete takeover of the Gaza Strip, but described the goals that the next stage of the war should accomplish.
During a briefing on Tuesday afternoon in Washington, Tammy Bruce, a spokeswoman for the State Department, faced reporters’ questions about whether or not the U.S. supported a full Israeli occupation of Gaza.
“We do remain focused on freeing the hostages, including the remains of two Americans and ensuring that Hamas never rules Gaza again,” Bruce said.
When asked about Khamis Ayyad, a Palestinian-American father with ties to Illinois who died Thursday in the West Bank, Bruce said the U.S. has called upon Israel to investigate the case.
In Jerusalem, Netanyahu’s office reported the prime minister met with Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and other senior security officials for about three hours on Tuesday.
“We do not give up on freeing the hostages, we do not give up on defeating the enemy in Gaza, and we do not stop until the threat is removed,” Netanyahu wrote on X.
In Tel Aviv, dozens of Israeli protesters were demanding a hostage deal and an end to the war. The Times of Israel and the Jerusalem Post reported that the group temporarily blocked the Ayalon, a main highway.
Most recently, Hamas released videos of Israelis Evyatar David and Rom Braslavski, both hostages since 2023. Both appeared emaciated.
David’s brother Ilay David addressed the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday in New York.
“While aid flows into Gaza to help the population, the hostages are being denied even the most basic necessities of life ... Every moment of delay is a step closer to a final tragic outcome,” Ilay David said during the UNSC meeting.
Bruce said that after Steve Witkoff, the U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, visited an aid distribution site in the Gaza Strip, there was a meeting with Trump about the problems with logistics.
“Humanitarian aid has been at the heart of our action,” Bruce said.
COGAT, the Israeli agency tasked with logistics, reported that there were 785 humanitarian aid packages delivered to Gaza since the start of an airdrop operation. There was also a plan to allow local merchants to sell basics through bank transfers.
“We will continue to work in order to improve the humanitarian response in the Gaza Strip, along with the international community, while refuting the false claims of deliberate starvation in Gaza,” a spokesperson for COGAT wrote.
In Gaza, Mohammed Qassas told The Associated Press that his children were so hungry that he was forced to storm aid trucks because there was “a mafia-like” distribution system. Yusif Abu Mor described it as a death trap.
“How am I supposed to feed them? No one has mercy. This resembles the end of the world,” Qassas said about Israel’s blockade. “If we fight, we get the food. If we don’t fight, we don’t get anything.”
The UN has cited the Gaza Health Ministry’s estimate that more than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 150,000 injured since the war started in 2023. The deaths attributed to the blockade-induced hunger aren’t clear.
The State Department estimates Hamas fighters killed about 1,200, including some 40 Americans, and kidnapped 251, including 12 Americans, during the attack on Oct. 7, 2023, in southern Israel.
“I have referred to Hamas as monsters in this room. Clearly, they are a terrorist group,” Bruce said. “Their main support has been Iran.”
The American Jewish Committee, an advocacy group based in New York, stands with Israel in a war against the Iranian “terror proxies” -- including Hamas, Houthis, and Hezbollah. On Tuesday, the group reported concerns about increasing antisemitism.
Also during the UNSC meeting, Gideon Saar, the Israeli foreign affairs minister, told the security council on Tuesday that Palestinians have had countless opportunities “to reach peace” since 1947 and have “rejected them all.”
Complete coverage
- Gaza aid truck drivers face increasing danger from desperate crowds and armed gangs
- Former Israeli security officials call to end the war in Gaza as Netanyahu hints at a new stage
- What to know as Israel considers reoccupying Gaza in what would be a major escalation of the war
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