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(LONDON) — If Hamas doesn’t return Israeli hostages by Saturday afternoon, “the ceasefire will be terminated,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday in a statement following a meeting with his security cabinet.

“The decision that I passed unanimously in the cabinet is this: If Hamas does not return our hostages by Saturday afternoon — the ceasefire will be terminated, and the IDF will return to intense fighting until Hamas is finally defeated,” Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu is demanding all nine living Israeli hostages who were supposed to be released during phase one of the ceasefire deal now be released in the next few days, an Israeli official told ABC News. Hamas violated the agreement; therefore, there will be no progress in the further implementation of the agreement or in negotiations on the second phase of the deal without the return of Israeli hostages, according to the official.

Netanyahu’s statement comes after President Donald Trump warned that “all hell is going to break out” unless Hamas releases all remaining hostages from Gaza by Saturday, following the group’s announcement it would delay the latest planned release after accusing Israel of violating the ceasefire agreement.

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday that it would be “appropriate” to abandon the ceasefire unless all hostages are freed. “I would say, cancel it and all bets are off and let hell break out,” he said.

The president dismissed the “drips and drabs” process set out in the January deal that slated small groups of hostages for release during the three-phase ceasefire, in exchange for Israel freeing Palestinian prisoners and withdrawing its forces from parts of Gaza.

“I would say Saturday at 12, we want them all back,” Trump said. “I’m speaking for myself. Israel can override it. But from myself, Saturday at 12 o’clock, and if they’re not, they’re not here, all hell is going to break out.”

In response, senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said Trump “must remember there is an agreement that must be respected,” in a statement cited by Reuters. “The language of ‘threats’ has no value and only complicates matters,” Zuhri added.

The president also warned that those hostages still being held in Gaza may not be in good physical condition.

“Who knows? Are they alive? Are they not alive? But I saw the condition when I saw the condition of the last ones that came out,” Trump said. “They’re not going to be alive right now, based on what I saw over the last two days, they’re not going to be alive for long.”

Trump suggested Hamas had released the healthiest captives first. “They’ve got more to send out, and they probably feel that they can’t do that, because it’s not going to make them look very good,” he said.

On Tuesday, it was announced that the oldest hostage taken during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack — Shlomo Mantzur, 86 — had been killed that day. Mansour’s death was announced by the Kibutz Kissufim where he lived and was later confirmed by the Israel Defense Forces.

Trump’s latest assertion followed Hamas’ Monday announcement that it would delay the next scheduled release of hostages, planned for Saturday.

In a statement, Hamas said the postponement was intended as a “warning message” to Israel, which it said had repeatedly violated the terms of the January ceasefire deal.

Hamas accused Israel of preventing the return of displaced Gazans to the north of the strip, blocking the planned influx of humanitarian aid and continuing to kill “many” Palestinians despite the pause in fighting.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said he instructed the IDF to prepare at the “highest level of alert” in response to Hamas’ announcement.

Following the meeting of his security cabinet on Tuesday, Netanyahu instructed the IDF to “reinforce forces in and around the Gaza Strip and to prepare for any scenario” if Hamas does not release “the Israeli hostages this coming Saturday,” an Israeli official told ABC News.

The meeting lasted about four hours and was “thorough and in-depth,” the official said.

All the cabinet members expressed support for Trump’s statement that Israeli hostages should be released by Saturday at noon and for his “revolutionary vision for the future of Gaza,” the official added.

There have so far been five rounds of exchanges between Hamas and Israel since the conflict began. Thirty-three Israeli hostages are expected to be released as part of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement due to last six weeks. The agreement was reached on Jan. 15.

The ceasefire turbulence comes as Trump continues to promote his controversial plan to permanently relocate Gaza’s population — around 2 million people — to other regional nations.

The president said during a taped Fox News interview — parts of which were released on Monday — that Gazans resettled outside of the strip would not be allowed to return to the territory, which he has said will be “a real estate development for the future.”

Pressed on his remarks in the Oval Office on Monday, the president did not repeat his assertion that Palestinians would not be given the right to return, but continued to insist that Gazans would not want to live in the devastated territory.

“We’ve spoken to a lot of Palestinians,” Trump said. “They would love to leave Gaza if they could find a place to be. And I’ve spoken to various leaders of various countries in the not so distant area from where we’re talking about the Gaza Strip, and I think they were very positive about providing land.”

“What we need is land, and if we could build a nice place for people to live safely, everybody in Gaza would do it,” Trump said. “You’re going to see that they all want to leave,” he claimed.

The president has found little foreign backing for his plan, with key regional partners like Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia all rejecting the proposal. Trump has suggested that those countries should help resettle Gazans on their territory.

Jordan has served as a humanitarian lifeline for civilians in Gaza throughout the Israel-Hamas conflict and already hosts millions of registered Palestinian refugees.

The president told reporters on Monday he could “conceivably” withhold billions of dollars in aid to Egypt and Jordan to coerce them into agreeing to host Palestinians displaced from Gaza.

The president will host Jordanian King Abdullah II at the White House on Tuesday. “I do think he’ll take, and I think other countries will take also,” Trump said of Abdullah when asked if he would accept ejected Palestinians. “They have good hearts, I think they’ll take,” he added.

Hamas has rejected Trump’s Gaza plan as “absurd.” In a statement, the group said the president’s comments “reflect a profound ignorance about Palestine and the region. Gaza is not a piece of real estate to be bought and sold; it is an inseparable part of our occupied Palestinian land.”

Nearly 400,000 people have already returned to the north since the beginning of the ceasefire, according to Gazan authorities. Palestinians interviewed by ABC News said they yearn to rebuild Gaza for themselves, the only place they say they have or will ever call home.

Netanyahu, meanwhile, framed Trump’s proposal as “a totally different vision, a much better one for the state of Israel.”

Netanyahu — who met with Trump at the White House last week — described the plan as “revolutionary, creative — and we’re discussing it. He is very determined to carry it out. It opens up many opportunities for us.”

ABC News’ Sarah Kolinovsky, Will Gretsky and Joe Simonetti contributed to this report.

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(LONDON) — Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov riffed on President Donald Trump’s suggestion that Ukrainians “may be Russians some day,” as both Moscow and Kyiv maneuver for leverage in revived peace talks the White House hopes will end nearly three years of full-scale war.

Peskov told reporters at a Tuesday briefing that the situation in Ukraine “largely corresponds to President Trump’s words.”

President Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson was referring to remarks made by Trump during an interview with Fox News which aired on Monday. The president told Bret Baier of his plans to secure U.S. access to $500 billion worth of rare earth metals located in Ukraine in exchange for continued American backing.

“They have tremendously valuable land in terms of rare earth, in terms of oil and gas and other things,” Trump said. “I want to have our money secured because we’re spending hundreds of billions of dollars and, you know, they may make a deal. They may not make a deal.”

“They may be Russians some day or may not be Russians some day,” Trump then added.

On Tuesday morning, Peskov said Trump’s remarks indicated the situation on the ground in Ukraine — often referred to by Putin and other Russian officials as the “new territorial realities” of Russian military occupation.

“The fact that a significant part of Ukraine wants to become Russia, and has already, is a fact,” Peskov told reporters, referring to Moscow’s claimed 2022 annexation of four Ukrainian regions, not all of which Russian forces actually control.

Asked if Trump’s peace proposals had a chance of success, Peskov replied, “Any phenomenon can happen with a 50% probability — either yes or no.”

Oleksandr Merezhko, a member of the Ukrainian parliament and the chair of the body’s foreign affairs committee, told ABC News of Trump’s comments, “It will never happen.”

“We saw what life under Russia might look like for Ukrainians in Bucha and Irpin,” Merezhko added, referring to the Kyiv suburbs briefly occupied by Russian forces in 2022 and where evidence of executions, torture and other abuses against civilians were uncovered after Moscow’s retreat.

“Trump’s statement means that he needs to communicate more with [President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy to understand the real picture,” Merezhko said.

Zelenskyy has expressed openness to Trump’s rare earth metals proposal. “The Americans helped the most, and therefore the Americans should earn the most,” Zelenskyy said in an interview with Reuters last week.

Zelenskyy this weekend told ITV News he “would be ready for any format for talks” if there was “an understanding that America and Europe will not abandon us and they will support us and provide security guarantees.”

Trump said Monday that his Ukraine-Russia envoy Keith Kellogg would visit Ukraine this week as the White House formulates a peace plan.

Zelenskyy is also expected to meet with Vice President JD Vance at next weekend’s landmark Munich Security Conference in southern Germany.

Zelenskyy has repeatedly rejected any suggestion of territorial concessions to Russia in exchange for peace, though has acknowledged it may not be possible to free the occupied territories via military means.

ABC News’ Cheyenne Haslett contributed to this report.

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(BAHAMAS) — Two Americans were injured, one seriously, in a suspected shark attack in the Bahamas, police said.

The two female tourists were swimming in Bimini Bay on Friday around 6:30 p.m. when the incident occurred, the Royal Bahamas Police Force said over the weekend.

“Initial reports indicate that the victims, both U.S.A. residents, sustained injuries while swimming in the waters at Bimini Bay,” police said.

Both women sustained injuries to their lower bodies, with one of the victims injured seriously, police said.

They both were initially treated at a local clinic before being airlifted to New Providence for further medical attention, police said.

Both have since returned to the U.S., Bahamian officials said Monday.

One of the victims will require a third surgery to repair the damage to her leg, her family told ABC News. She will undergo the surgery in the Orlando, Florida, area, her family said.

The incident remains under investigation.

Shark attacks are exceedingly rare. There were 69 unprovoked shark bites recorded around the world in 2023, according to the most recent yearly research conducted by the Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File.

Of those, one of them occurred in the Bahamas and was deadly, according to the report. In that incident, a 44-year-old woman from Massachusetts was killed by a shark while paddleboarding near the back of the Sandals resort, according to the Royal Bahamas Police Force.

ABC News’ Anselm Gibbs and Alondra Valle contributed to this report.

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(GUATEMALA CITY) — At least 51 people were killed as a bus plunged into a ravine early Monday in Guatemala City, officials said.

At least 20 more were seriously injured, they said.

City officials said the incident occurred when the bus veered off a highway and went into a ravine.

Photos released by fire officials showed the bus upside-down in the ravine as they pulled passengers from the wreckage.

In a statement, Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo said the country’s army and disaster relief agency would aid in the response.

Arevalo also said he would declare a period of national mourning.

“I stand in solidarity with the families of the victims who today woke up to heartbreaking news. Their pain is my pain,” he said.

ABC News’ Aicha El Hammar Castano and Will Gretsky contributed to this report.

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(GUATEMALA CITY) — At least 40 people were killed as a bus plunged into a ravine early Monday in Guatemala City, officials said.

At least 15 more were seriously injured, they said.

City officials said the incident occurred when the bus veered off a highway and went into a ravine.

Photos released by fire officials showed the bus upside-down in the ravine as they pulled passengers from the wreckage.

In a statement, Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo said the country’s army and disaster relief agency would aid in the response.

Arevalo also said he would declare a period of national mourning.

“I stand in solidarity with the families of the victims who today woke up to heartbreaking news. Their pain is my pain,” he said.

ABC News’ Will Gretsky contributed to this report.

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(LONDON) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed to his U.S. and European partners not to “abandon” Kyiv in any revived peace talks with Russia, aimed at ending the war between the two nations now nearly 3 years old.

The return of President Donald Trump to the White House has raised the prospect of renewed negotiations, with the president telling reporters this weekend he had been “making progress” in contacts with Kyiv and with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In an interview with Britain’s ITV News published this weekend, Zelenskyy said he “would be ready for any format for talks” if there was “an understanding that America and Europe will not abandon us and they will support us and provide security guarantees.”

Russian officials have expressed openness to renewed talks, but have not indicated any willingness to downgrade Moscow’s longstanding war goals of annexing swaths of Ukraine and blocking Kyiv’s ambitions to join NATO.
Putin has said he is not willing to negotiate directly with Zelenskyy, dismissing the Ukrainian leader as “illegitimate.”

On Monday, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin told RIA Novosti that Moscow has not yet received any suitable negotiating proposals.

The diplomatic maneuvering continues as White House officials prepare to travel to both Germany and Ukraine, with fresh high-level peace talk discussions expected.

Vice President JD Vance is expected to attend next weekend the Munich Security Conference in southern Germany, where Zelenskyy is expected to lead Kyiv’s delegation.

Trump’s Ukraine-Russia envoy, Keith Kellogg, is then expected to visit Ukraine on Feb. 20.

In his interview with ITV, Zelenskyy warned the White House against simply freezing the conflict along the current front line.

‘”A frozen conflict will lead to more aggression again and again,” the Ukrainian leader said. “Who then will win prizes and go down in history as the victor? No one. It will be an absolute defeat for everyone, both for us, as is important, and for Trump.”

While preparing for new talks, both Moscow and Kyiv continued their exchange of large-scale drone attacks on Sunday night.

Ukraine’s air force said on Telegram that it downed 61 of 83 Russian drones launched towards the country, with another 22 drones lost in flight.

Officials reported damage to a non-residential building in Kyiv after falling drone debris sparked a fire. One woman was injured in the city of Sumy after a drone detonated in a parking lot, officials said.

Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said it shot down 17 Ukrainian drones over the Black Sea, Crimea and several Russian regions.

Veniamin Kondratyev, the governor of Russia’s southern Krasnodar region, said on Telegram that debris from a Ukrainian drone damaged a multi-storey building but caused no casualties.

Andriy Kovalenko, the head of Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation — which operates as part of the country’s National Security and Defense Council — said on Telegram that drones targeted the Afipsky oil refinery in Krasnodar region.

ABC News’ Will Gretsky and Max Uzol contributed to this report.

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President Donald Trump’s freeze of U.S. foreign humanitarian aid and shuttering of the U.S. Agency for International Development is having devastating consequences globally, several humanitarian nongovernmental organization leaders told ABC News.

“The United States Government provides about 70% of all funding for HIV and AIDS globally, and so pausing any of that is a big shock to the system,” said Christine Stegling, a deputy executive director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and an assistant secretary-general of the United Nations.

While Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last week the State Department can offer waivers for some of the most critical aid efforts to continue, Stegling said there is confusion over how to implement the waivers and what programs qualify.

“Community clinics are closed because communities are not sure what the guidance is, and they’re not sure what costs can be covered, and they’re afraid that they will be asked to repay services that they have charged to U.S. government contracts,” Stegling told ABC News.

Stegling warned that if the Trump administration halts all funding to HIV and AIDS programs, more than six million people could die of AIDS-related causes by 2029.

“These are people’s lives that are really at risk here that we need to consider as we’re thinking about the future,” Stegling said.

Since the Russian invasion in 2022, Ukraine has been the top recipient of U.S. foreign assistance, according to USAID. Yuriy Boyechko, the founder and president of Hope for Ukraine, works with U.S.-funded organizations to provide firewood to Ukrainian civilians living on the front lines.

“Firewood is a lifeline right now for the people in Ukraine,” Boyechko told ABC News. “They don’t have electricity, they don’t have gas. They rely on firewood to keep them warm in freezing temperature[s], and they rely on their firewood to cook their meals.”

Boyechko said that unless other organizations can step in and distribute that wood, Ukrainians will be left in the freezing cold.

“It’s created a lot of distrust inside of the population inside of Ukraine because we [have] always been relying on [the] United States,” Boyechko said. “[The] United States got our back in the darkest period of time, and now, since USAID is pulling away, a lot of people [are] losing hope.”

Search for Common Ground, a global peace-building organization, receives about 40 percent of its funding from the U.S. CEO Shamil Idriss said the aid freeze has hurt their work in eastern Congo, where a war has reemerged.

“We had to freeze the mobilization in the east of the country that was intended to prevent recruitment into the rebel movement that is gaining ground there,” Idriss told ABC News. “Critically, we had to stop broadcasting on a network of radio stations in the east of the country that provide a lifeline for people. So literally, today, people are running in the wrong direction. They’re fleeing towards violence, rather than away from it.”

Idriss said his organization is making the case that its work aligns with the foreign policy priorities of the Trump administration and hopes to work with them, but the way in which the aid was immediately cut has caused concern.

“The stop work orders that we received across more than 30 programs and projects, no two were alike. Some of the information was inconsistent, ambiguous or even contradictory,” Idriss said. “Chaos has really ensued. We’re hopeful that, you know, cooler heads will prevail within the administration shortly.”

Noah Gottschalk, senior director for international advocacy at HIAS, said the Jewish refugee and immigrant aid organization has also experienced “total and complete chaos.”

“We’ve had to stop programs, for example, with survivors of violence against women in Latin America, in countries like Colombia, in countries like Ecuador, women who fled abusive partners, and the support that we provide them is often the difference between them being forced to maybe return to those abusive former partners, or becoming vulnerable to human trafficking,” Gottschalk told ABC News.

Gottschalk said he’s worried the freeze in humanitarian aid could have foreign policy implications.

“The U.S. abandoning some of the most desperate people in the world right now absolutely will create a vacuum, and I’m deeply concerned about who is going to fill that vacuum, whether it’s armed groups, whether it’s cartels, human traffickers,” Gottschalk said.

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(LONDON) — Hamas militants freed three more Israeli hostages on Saturday in exchange for Israel releasing another 183 Palestinian prisoners as part of the ceasefire agreement between the warring sides.

The latest round of the hostage release took place in the city of Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on Saturday morning. Two Red Cross officials took part in a signing ceremony with a Hamas commander on a stage prior to the handover. A banner could be seen on the stage that read in Arabic “We are the flood … We are the day after” and another banner with the words in Hebrew “Absolute victory” alongside an image of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s face.

The three Israeli hostages — Ohad Ben Ami, Eli Sharabi and Or Levi — were then escorted one-by-one out of vehicles by Hamas militants and brought onto the stage. All three appeared very thin and weak but able to walk and stand.

Hamas militants eventually escorted the hostages off the stage and into three Red Cross vehicles, which slowly drove away through the crowd of people. Meanwhile, the hostages’ families watched the events unravel on a television in southern Israel and they were seen crying at the sight of their loved ones.

“According to information communicated by the Red Cross, three hostages were transferred to them, and they are on their way to IDF and ISA forces in the Gaza Strip,” a joint statement from the Israel Defense Forces and the Israel Security Agency read following their departure.

The Red Cross later handed over the three newly-released hostages to IDF and ISA forces in Gaza before they crossed into southern Israel, where they underwent an initial medical assessment as their families waited for them at a hospital.

“Three returning hostages are currently being accompanied by IDF special forces and ISA forces on their return to Israeli territory, where they will undergo an initial medical assessment,” the IDF and ISA said in another joint statement. “The commanders and soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces salute and embrace the returning hostages as they make their way home to the State of Israel. The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit asks everyone to respect the privacy of the returning hostages and their families.”

As images of the newly released hostages surfaced, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office issued a statement saying Netanyahu, who remained in the United States after an official visit to the White House in Washington D.C., “has instructed to not allow the situation to go unaddressed, and to take appropriate measures” because of “the serious condition of the three hostages and the repeated violations by the Hamas terrorist organization.”

In exchange for the three freed hostages, Israel released another 183 Palestinians from its prisons across the country — 72 were transferred to Ramallah and Jerusalem and 111 were transferred to Khan Yunis in southern Gaza Strip. Some of those released appeared frail, including an elderly man on an oxygen tank who had to be carried off one of the buses that arrived in Ramallah.

At least seven of the 72 Palestinian prisoners released in Ramallah and Jerusalem on Saturday were immediately transferred to a hospital, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society. Their conditions were unknown. All 111 of the Palestinian prisoners released in Gaza on Saturday were taken to the European Hospital near Khan Yunis for medical evaluation. Their conditions were also unknown.

ABC News’ Nasser Atta, Jordana Miller, Dana Savir and Samy Zyara contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — A DOD-contracted aircraft flying an “intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance” mission crashed in the Philippine Province of Maguindanao del Sur, killing all four on board, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said Thursday.

The victims included one U.S. military service member and three defense contractors, according to federal officials.

“The incident occurred during a routine mission in support of U.S.-Philippine security cooperation activities,” U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement, noting that the aircraft was requested by Filipino allies.

The names of the crew are being withheld for at least 24 hours pending next-of-kin notification.

The cause of the crash is under investigation, according to federal officials.

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(GAZA) — Palestinians in Gaza and abroad are rejecting a proposal by President Donald Trump that the United States “take over” the Gaza Strip and lead the redevelopment of the war-ravaged territory.

Palestinians interviewed by ABC News said they yearn to rebuild Gaza for themselves, the only place they say they have or will ever call home.

“This is not going to be accepted by any Palestinian, we will reject this totally,” said Abu Anton Al-Zabadi. “And if Trump is interested in the wellbeing of the Israeli people, America is a great country, it’s powerful and has lots of land — and if he wants to take in the Israelis to the U.S., he can do so. But this is our land, this is our homeland and this will never be accepted by any Palestinian. We are staying here.”

Tens of thousands of homes and cultural centers have been destroyed — including schools, churches, mosques and stadiums — and entire neighborhoods have been turned to rubble amid the monthslong Israeli retaliation following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel. More than 45,000 Palestinians have been killed with thousands more wounded, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

In a news conference Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump said he hoped to “level the site” and rebuild it, after earlier saying Palestinians living there should leave and go to other areas or countries.

“The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it, too,” Trump said. “We’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site. Level the site and get rid of the destroyed buildings. Level it out.”

Some human rights groups have accused Israel of committing genocide and ethnic cleansing in carrying out its war with Hamas. Some of the Palestinians ABC News spoke to fear Trump’s comments about relocating Gazans are an extension of an effort to permanently displace them.

Many have lived or have been connected to Gaza for generations, recalling memories of swimming in the Mediterranean Sea, lounging on the beach with their families and visiting some of the world’s oldest historical sites found in Gaza before the war and bloodshed. It’s where they grew up, went to school and raised their families.

Some Palestinians had refused to leave Gaza despite the Israel-Hamas war and said they don’t plan on following Trump’s whims about casting them aside now, either.

“This is a very difficult decision for the people of Gaza, since they have lived through nearly 15 months of terror, killing, displacement and migration,” said Fouad Hatem Al Kurdi, a Jabalia Camp Resident. “Despite that, they stayed in their land and did not leave. After 15 months of suffering, no one will leave here … I live here, I know my work, I know how to build it, I know everything here.”

“It is impossible for anyone to leave their country and sell their country, despite the steadfastness and pain we have experienced,” said Muhammad Zarouk, a resident of Al-Shati Camp. “I will not leave, it is impossible. I will sacrifice my blood in order to stay here in my land.”

“Either I die in Gaza or I live in Gaza,” Amer Al-Sawafiri, another Palestinian in Gaza told ABC News. “Those who were displaced suffered a lot … I cannot leave my country and my family. Where will I go?”

“As for me, my children and my family, we will stand firm,” said Ilham Al-Durra, a Palestinian in Gaza. “I will not leave. This is my land, my country, I will not leave.”

Palestinian refugee Hani Almadhoun told ABC News he lost two brothers in the war, one who was a co-founder of the Gaza Soup Kitchen that provided food for Gazans amid the threat of famine during the Israel-Hamas war.

Almadhoun said his focus now is still on ensuring that people have food, medical care, and other necessities amid the ongoing humanitarian crisis.

Rebuilding Gaza is not yet the focus for those on the ground, he said.

“We just recently relocated the grave of my brother from another place, because the cemetery was all destroyed. So even in death, we’re not finding peace,” said Almadhoun. “My family is trying to do as much as we can, and it’s sad because this needs a lot larger humanitarian response, and that’s not been fully authorized. We’re not even talking about rebuilding yet.”

He said he hopes one day Gazans achieve “economic development and stability.”

Yousef Aljamal, a Palestinian refugee residing in Turkey, left Gaza eight years ago and plans to return once he’s able. He said he’s not shocked by Trump’s rhetoric, pointing to other comments the U.S. president has made about taking over the Panama Canal and Greenland.

“Will his plan materialize on the ground?” Aljamal said. “I think the only people who can stop this plan is the people of Gaza. They are determined to stop his plan. They do not want to go anywhere.”

Tala Herzallah, a 22-year-old student in Gaza, told ABC News that Trump’s comments felt like a slap in the face after everything Palestinians have endured for over a year.

“‘Just leave your homeland, leave your country for us to rebuild it in a way that we see is good for us, not for you'” she characterized Trump’s remarks. “I can’t understand how this can be considered justice,” said Herzallah.

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