Netanyahu nominates Trump for peace prize amid Gaza ceasefire talks
The two leaders met at the White House to discuss the possibility of a Gaza ceasefire, putting an end to the 21-month-long conflict.
The US-backed ceasefire would reportedly see Hamas release 18 hostages during a 60-day truce.
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The Guardian
23 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Israeli plans for forced transfer of Gaza's population faces challenge by army reservists
Defence minister Israel Katz's plans for an internment camp on the ruins of Rafah mark an escalation beyond incitement to war crimes, already a mainstay of Israel's political discourse, to operational planning for mass forced displacement. Israeli lawmakers including cabinet ministers have repeatedly called for the 'cleansing' of Gaza, in the wake of Hamas's cross-border attacks on 7 October, backing the forced deportation of Palestinians to other countries and new Israeli settlements in the territory. However, Katz was the first senior cabinet member to lay out, in a briefing on Monday to Israeli media, measures to implement the displacement of Palestinians from most of Gaza. He said he had given orders to plan a 'humanitarian city', to hold Palestinians who would not be allowed to leave. Some would be moved to other countries, Katz said. Israeli officials describe this as 'voluntary' departure but the conditions in Gaza mean no displacement inside the territory or departure from it can be seen as consensual in legal terms, human rights lawyers say. Michael Sfard, one of Israel's leading human rights lawyers, said: 'This is not an expression of opinion or desire. Katz ordered the army to prepare. It has more meaning, because this guy holds the administrative power to actually do it.' Katz has the backing of the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, currently meeting Donald Trump in Washington DC, Haaretz newspaper reported on Tuesday. However, experts say a political commitment does not mean Katz will be able to build the 'humanitarian city' he described or force the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, even with coercive measures including access to food. Alon Pinkas, an analyst and former top Israeli diplomat, said: 'The plan is by definition unviable and impractical, without even getting to the moral depravity of forcing a desolate million people into a de facto internment camp. 'Katz has a tendency to make outlandish, unfounded, chaos-stirring remarks (on Gaza, on Iran) that have the life expectancy of a mayfly.' However, it would be foolish to dismiss the plan to turn Rafah into a camp as purely political posturing given reported investment into planning for mass forced transfers, Pinkas added. 'There has been a feasibility study (by the Boston Consulting Group), so this may portend serious regard,' he said. Two partners from Boston Consulting Group (BCG) modelled the costs of 'relocating' Palestinians from Gaza, the Financial Times reported last week. BCG has fully disavowed the work and said it was unauthorised. Plans for the construction of camps called 'humanitarian transit areas', to house Palestinians inside and possibly outside Gaza, had previously been presented to the Trump administration and discussed in the White House, Reuters reported on Monday. Sfard is representing three Israeli reservists who in May filed a legal petition against Israel's military and government over the potential forced transfer of Palestinians. They argued that a reported objective of the 'Gideon's Chariots' operation in Gaza, to 'concentrate and move the population', violated international law. 'The IDF is being asked to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity,' their petition said, urging an intervention by the courts. Judges gave authorities weeks to respond, and on Monday's deadline the office of Israel's chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, denied that displacing or 'concentrating' Palestinians was an operational goal. 'The IDF recommends and allows civilians who are located in combat zones to leave for their own protection, as long as IDF operations are ongoing in the area,' the letter said. 'It should be emphasized that concentration and mobilization of civilian population is not a part of the operation's aims and certainly the IDF is not coercing movement of population within or out of the Strip.' International law allows temporary evictions to protect civilians from hostilities but only if they meet key criteria, including ensuring that people forced to leave can return home, Sfard said. 'The prohibition on forced transfer and deportation is one of the oldest in modern international law, it dates back to the American civil war. So this it not something new, or that is still being debated in the international legal community.,' he said. 'Demographic engineering can be done by expulsion of people or bringing people into an area. Both are war crimes and it seems this government wants to do both.' Katz, who is apparently at odds with his own chief of staff about the Gaza campaign, made clear that Palestinians would not be allowed to leave his 'humanitarian city', which will cover less than a quarter of Gaza's current territory. Katz's spokesperson Adir Dahan did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for the ministry said only Dahan could represent him. The IDF declined comment.
NBC News
37 minutes ago
- NBC News
Trump's tariff deadline delay brings hope, confusion to trade partners, businesses
WASHINGTON, (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's latest tariff delay provided some hope to major trade partners Japan, South Korea and the European Union that deals to ease duties could still be reached, while bewildering some smaller exporters such as South Africa and leaving companies with no clarity on the path forward. Trump's form letters to 14 countries informing them of planned tariff rates of 25% to 40% provided what he called a final warning on his 'reciprocal' tariffs, while pushing back Wednesday's previous deadline to August 1, a date he said on Tuesday was final, declaring: 'No extensions will be granted.' The move reflects Trump's frustration with trade negotiations that are proving lengthier and more complicated than the '90 deals in 90 days' that he expected, trade experts and administration officials say. The president, who announced on Tuesday a 50% tariff on imported copper and said long-threatened levies on semiconductors and pharmaceuticals were coming soon, said he has long favored simple tariffs over tedious trade talks that often involve red lines for some countries and their own requests for U.S. concessions. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba focused on the positive, saying his government would press ahead with negotiations toward a deal that 'benefits both countries, while protecting Japan's national interest.' Facing a 25% general U.S. tariff, Japan wants relief for its export-dependent auto industry from Trump's separate 25% automotive tariffs. It also has resisted demands for increased purchases of American rice. Japan, once viewed as an early favorite for a deal, faces an upper house election on July 20 and too many concessions could put Ishiba's ruling Liberal Democratic Party at risk. 'These countries are not folding. They're not giving him what he wants, so he's added another threat,' said William Reinsch, a former U.S. Commerce Department official who is a senior trade adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. 'He's put a new number to it and extended the deadline.' South Korea, where President Lee Jae Myung has been in office less than a month, also pledged to intensify talks for 'a mutually beneficial result' while analysts warned he would not be 'a pushover' for Trump or put South Korea at a disadvantage to Japan. Stephen Miran, chairman of the White House's Council of Economic Advisers, told Fox News on Tuesday more deals were possible even before the end of this week, as long as countries made concessions deemed worthy by Trump. India, in particular, looked close to a deal, but prospects were less clear for smaller countries such as South Africa, Thailand and Malaysia, which face tariffs of 30%, 36% and 25%, respectively. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa pushed back on Trump's 30% tariff rate, calling it out of sync with an average 7.6% South African tariff rate. But he instructed his negotiators to 'urgently engage' with Trump's team on a framework first submitted by the South African side on May 20. The Trump administration's negotiating time may be eaten up with larger partners, such as the EU, which did not get a warning letter or a change to its prescribed 20% tariff rate, double the 10% baseline. Sources familiar with the EU talks have told Reuters a deal could involve carve-outs for aircraft and parts, medical equipment and alcoholic spirits. They say the EU also wants certain automakers to export to the U.S. at rates below the 25% auto tariff. Such a deal would be similar to a framework agreement with the United Kingdom that had carve-outs for autos, steel and aircraft engines. Final squeeze After announcing his global 'Liberation Day' tariffs of 11%-50% in early April, Trump quickly dialed them back to 10% for most countries amid bond market turmoil to buy time for negotiations to lower foreign tariffs and trade barriers. Ryan Majerus, another former U.S. Commerce official, said Trump's three-month pause had not produced the desired results, and now the president was seeking to maximize his negotiating leverage. 'They're going to pressure-test things and see how far they can go, particularly for countries where there hasn't been any movement in the talks,' said Majerus, who is a partner at Washington's King and Spalding law firm. Steadier markets and strong economic data give Trump some room to maneuver, but time is short and 'the more granular you get in negotiating these things, the tougher the sledding gets,' he added. The deadline extension provides no relief to companies that are trying to keep up with Trump's tariffs. Executives say the rapidly shifting tariff landscape has paralyzed decision-making as they try to adjust their supply chains and cost structures to avoid tariff-induced price hikes. 'No company can really prepare for this,' said Hubertus Breier, chief technology officer for Germany's Lapp Holdings, a family-owned maker of cables, wires and robotics for factories. 'We are already incurring losses simply because of the uncertainty of the daily changing situation.' Lapp has difficult choices — absorb additional costs or pass them on to customers. Assuming permanently higher prices and costs, however, could threaten its long-term existence, Breier added. DeMejico, a family business in Valencia, California with a plant in Mexico that builds traditional Spanish and Mexican-style furniture, is struggling to adapt to Trump's 50% tariffs on imported steel. Robert Luna, the company's president, said the firm is importing heavy steel latches, hinges and trim parts separately to simplify the tariff calculation process and installing them at its Los Angeles-area showroom. The tariffs and higher U.S. wage costs are already inflating prices, and DeMejico faces further cost increases on furniture if Trump hits Mexico with a reciprocal tariff, Luna said. 'It's hard to do anything about this as a small business owner, so I just try to be stoic and see what happens,' Luna said, adding: 'My biggest worry is just keeping the company alive.' Luna said he thought the Trump administration was 'setting up the foundation to train people to pay tariffs.'
The Independent
44 minutes ago
- The Independent
Trump suggests taking over Washington DC and running NYC if Mamdani elected
President Donald Trump said his administration is considering a federal takeover of Washington, D.C., and has suggested that he would also consider targeting New York City should Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani win the mayor's race this fall. His Tuesday remarks to reporters at the White House escalated his attacks against the 33-year-old Democratic nominee, who Trump has threatened with arrest, denaturalization and removal from the country while repeatedly branding him a communist. 'I'm not getting involved,' Trump told reporters during a Cabinet meeting. 'But I can tell you this. I used to say we will not ever be a socialist country. Well, I'll say it again. We're not gonna have it,' he continued. 'If a communist gets elected to run New York, it can never be the same. But we have tremendous power at the White House to run places where we have to.' Trump then said 'we could run D.C.' 'I mean, we're looking at D.C,' he added. 'We're thinking about doing it, to be honest with you. We want a capital that's run flawlessly, and it wouldn't be hard for us to do it.' Trump said his chief of staff Susie Wiles is working with the capital city's Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser but did not offer any details about what that entails, or how the White House could upend decades of local control. The president has repeatedly publicly criticized the nation's capital, labeling it 'filthy and crime-ridden' and using the city as a test case for his tough-on-crime agenda. He issued an executive order in March creating a White House task force to boost police presence and immigration enforcement with plans to 'beautify' the city. In 1973, D.C. residents were granted the right to elect their own local government, including mayor and city council members, but Congress still maintains significant authority to review or overturn local laws. Residents of the city do not have any voting representatives in Congress; the city is represented by one non-voting delegate, Rep. Eleanor Norton. Mamdani, who defeated Andrew Cuomo in June's Democratic primary election for New York City mayor, has largely focused his campaign around affordability issues, including proposals for no-cost childcare, free buses and city-run grocery stores, which Trump and his allies are falsely calling plans to 'take over grocery stores.' Mamdani has warned that Trump's statements about him amount to 'intimidation' and 'represent an attack on democracy' that seek to undermine election outcomes. The state assemblyman, if elected, would be the city's first South Asian and Muslim mayor. He was born in Uganda and moved to New York when he was seven years old. He was naturalized as a U.S. citizen in 2018. Trump has amplified baseless allegations that Mamdani is 'here illegally,' and right-wing influencers and Republicans in Congress have called on the administration to deport him. New York Governor Kathy Hochul is among Democrats who have rallied against Trump's attacks. 'I don't care if you're the President of the United States,' she wrote. 'If you threaten to unlawfully go after one of our neighbors, you're picking a fight with 20 million New Yorkers — starting with me.'
