Ben-Gvir told the official Israeli Broadcasting Corporation, "The Americans are very naive, especially Kushner and Wotkoff, because they are planting incorrect ideas in Trump's head about Gaza." He added, "I am not prepared to have tens of thousands of armed men in Gaza." There was no immediate comment from the American side on Ben-Gvir's remarks.
On Saturday, the American news website Axios reported that the White House is planning to hold a meeting of the leaders of the "Peace Council" on February 19, as part of pushing forward the implementation of the second phase of the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip.
On January 15, the US president announced the establishment of the "Peace Council," which is part of a plan he presented for the Gaza Strip, adopted by the UN Security Council in Resolution 2803, issued in November 2015. A
US-brokered ceasefire agreement in October 2015 ended a war of annihilation that Israel had begun two years earlier, leaving more than 72,000 Palestinians dead and over 171,000 wounded, and causing massive destruction that affected 90 percent of the infrastructure.
Regarding Israel's demands concerning Iran's nuclear program and ballistic missiles, Ben-Gvir said, "Prime Minister (Benjamin Netanyahu) is doing an excellent job with regard to Iran, and his demands are very clear." He claimed that Netanyahu "knows how to address Trump, and this time too, he will lead to achievements."
On Friday, the first round of indirect negotiations between the United States and Iran concluded in the Omani capital, Muscat.
These negotiations took place amidst escalating tensions between the two countries, and a US military buildup in the region against Tehran.
Tehran believes that the US administration and Israel are fabricating pretexts for military intervention and regime change, and it vows to retaliate against any military attack, even a limited one. It insists on the lifting of Western economic sanctions imposed on it in exchange for curbing its nuclear program.
Uranium enrichment is a major point of contention between the two sides. Iran demands the lifting of sanctions in exchange for its commitment to restricting its nuclear program in a way that prevents the production of a nuclear bomb.
In contrast, the United States demands that Iran completely halt its uranium enrichment activities and remove its highly enriched uranium stockpile from its territory.
The US administration, acting on Israeli demands, also sought to put Iran’s missile program and its support for armed groups in the region on the negotiating table, but Iran repeatedly stressed that it would not negotiate on any issues other than its nuclear program.
