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Ofir Akunis: Hamas will not rule Gaza at the end of the war, even if they want to

The New York General Consul gave an interview to Reshet Bet, where he discussed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's upcoming meeting with President Trump.

Avi Woolf
Avi Woolf
3 min read
New York General Consul Ofir Akunis.
Photo: GPO

Ofir Akunis, Israel's General Consul in New York, gave an interview this morning (Tuesday) for Reshet Bet radio, where he discussed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's meeting today with President Trump and its significance.

In response to the question of whether Netanyahu will seek a green light from Trump to attack Iran first and only then work on normalization with Saudi Arabia, Akunis said that the hostage deal is also important and that returning the hostages is a top priority, above the other very important topics to be discussed.

Regarding the expected Saudi demand for a two state solution as a condition of normalization with Israel, Akunis said that the matter was dropped in principle during the first Trump term, and that in any event the emergence of the Hamas terror state has made such a solution unworkable.

When asked how the government is dealing with the tension between the need to return all the hostages and bring down Hamas, with Hamas demanding an end to the war for the remaining hostages, Akunis said that there is no real tension.

The General Consul said that the war will only end when all the hostages have been returned, and that there may be "changes" in the approach of the Trump administration regarding the condition of the end of the war.

Akunis also said, and stressed that "I say this in the most authorized" way, meaning based on knowledge of government plans - Hamas will not rule in Gaza at the end of the war, and the war will not end until that happens.

Akunis was then asked whether exiling Hamas' leaders from the Gaza Strip, in the same way that Yasser Arafat was exiled from Beirut to Tunis at the end of the First Lebanon War, would be considered ending Hamas rule in Gaza.

He responded by saying that negotiations are still in a very early phase right now, and that option will have to be discussed among others. He did stress that Hamas will not control the Gaza Strip militarily or as a civilian government by the end of the war, and that Netanyahu will present this approach to Trump.

Akunis also responded to reports of "bad blood" between Netanyahu and Trump by noting how Trump's removal of the embargo on vital arms and his moving against anti-Israel protestors on campus show how much better this administration is compared to the previous Biden administration.


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