Netanyahu believes no US troops needed in Gaza

​​​​​​WASHINGTON

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday said that US troops are not needed in the Gaza Strip.

"No!" Netanyahu told reporters in Congress, when asked if he thinks US troops are needed in Gaza to make President Donald Trump's plan peaceful.

Netanyahu headed to Congress to talk with lawmakers as part of his visit to Washington, DC.

During talks with Senate leadership, "unqualified support" for Netanyahu and Israel was expressed, according to the Israeli prime ministry.

Netanyahu "clarified Israel's position, and said that Iran had to be prevented from attaining nuclear weapons and that Hamas had to be eliminated in Gaza," it said.

In late January, the Senate blocked a Republican-led bill to sanction the International Criminal Court (ICC) in protest of its arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for the Israeli campaign in Gaza.

Separately, Netanyahu met Sen. Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal. He then met Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton, and Democratic Sen. John Fetterman, according to the prime ministry.

Trump doubled down on his Gaza “take over” plan on Thursday and said no US soldiers would be needed. The proposal has been widely condemned by world leaders.

"The Gaza Strip would be turned over to the United States by Israel at the conclusion of fighting. The Palestinians, people like Chuck Schumer, would have already been resettled in far safer and more beautiful communities, with new and modern homes, in the region," he said on Truth Social.

He claimed that the Palestinians would have “a chance to be happy, safe, and free” due to the relocation scheme he proposed, which envisions Palestinians displaced to Egypt and Jordan.

"The U.S., working with great development teams from all over the World, would slowly and carefully begin the construction of what would become one of the greatest and most spectacular developments of its kind on Earth. No soldiers by the U.S. would be needed! Stability for the region would reign!!!" he said.