Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has rejected US President Donald Trump's plan to displace Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, saying it "will achieve nothing."
"The idiotic plans of the Americans or others regarding Gaza and Palestine will be futile," Ayatollah Khamenei said during a meeting in Tehran with Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Ziad Nahal.
Donald Trump's plan calls for the war-torn Gaza Strip to be placed under US control and its 2,4 million residents to be resettled in Egypt and Jordan.
The plan has sparked outrage in the international community, with the UN warning of "ethnic cleansing" of Palestinian territory.
"No plan can be implemented without the agreement of the resistance movement and the people of Gaza," the ayatollah said, adding that public opinion around the world supports the Palestinians.
Tehran has already condemned the US proposal, calling it an "unprecedented attack" on international law and the UN Charter.
Commenting on the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, which includes an exchange of hostages and prisoners between the two sides, Khamenei said that "those who a year and a half ago claimed to destroy the resistance (Hamas) in a short time are today receiving their prisoners in small groups from the hands of the fighters of that resistance."
He added that in return, Israel is releasing "a large number of Palestinian prisoners."
A fragile ceasefire has silenced the guns in the Gaza Strip since January 19, after 15 months of devastating war sparked by the Palestinian Islamist movement's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. 251 people were kidnapped then.
A total of 33 Israeli hostages are set to be released during the first phase of the ceasefire, which ends on March 1, compared to 1.900 Palestinians held by Israel.
Since the beginning of the ceasefire, 19 Israeli hostages and 1.134 Palestinians have been freed.
After more than 500 days of captivity, 70 people remain in Gaza, of whom at least 35 have died, according to the Israeli military.
Hamas announced today that it will return the bodies of four hostages held in the Gaza Strip to Israel on Thursday and release six live prisoners on Saturday, as talks on extending the ceasefire are set to resume.
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Hamas leader Khalil al-Haya said today that six more living Israeli hostages will be released on Saturday. The six are the last hostages to be freed as part of the first phase of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
The warring parties have yet to negotiate a second phase, in which Hamas would release dozens more hostages, in exchange for a permanent ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal.
Al-Hajja announced the decision today, in pre-recorded statements.
The released hostages, as before, will be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
Israel demands the complete demilitarization of the Gaza Strip at the end of the war, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sarr said today.
"Israel is determined to achieve the release of all our hostages," Saar said at a press conference in Jerusalem.
But, he added, Israel is also determined to achieve all the war goals set by the government.
"We demand the complete demilitarization of Gaza. We will not accept the continued presence of Hamas, or any other terrorist group, in Gaza," the Israeli foreign minister said.
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Egypt is developing a plan to rebuild the Gaza Strip that would not involve forcibly evicting Palestinians from the area, as Arab nations fight against US President Donald Trump's proposal to evict residents and allow the United States to take control.
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