State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce expressed the department's desire for a deal between Israel and Gaza that lasts longer than one generation.
Since Oct. 7, 2023, Israel has continued to encroach into Gaza in its fight against Hamas and has brought over half of the territory into its control. President Donald Trump is floating what Bruce described as a "new idea" of a freedom zone to establish long-term peace. Bruce confirmed that the president has offered many options.
"It cannot be what it's been before," Bruce said of the region. "We have to make sure this does not keep happening every generation. So what it looks like afterwards, is, in fact — we will be successful — is that Hamas will not exist. There will finally be an end to the carnage, and then the region and the world will be able to work on how to get, especially the first victims of Hamas, the Gazan people into a framework where they can have a future they can rely on."
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The last ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel, which was the first under Trump, ended March 2. It was initially meant to be the first of a multi-phase deal that Bruce said fizzled due to a lack of cooperation from Hamas.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in Washington on Monday as the first foreign dignitary to negotiate the 17% tariff Trump imposed on Israel. These tariffs remained in place even after Congress passed the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, which allotted the country $26.38 billion under former President Joe Biden. Trump noted that Israel receives some $4 billion a year from the United States otherwise.