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is provided by... nicole: at bdo i feel like a true individual, people value me for me, they care about what i want, my needs, my career path, i matter here. announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news" n bbc news. n >> the u.s. will take over the gaza strip. and we will do a job with it. we will own it. >> no other country in the world has stepped up and made an offer. it is one people need to think about.

it was not meant as a hostile move, i think it was a very generous move. >> the president has not committed to putting boots on the ground in gaza. he also said the u.s. will not pay for the rebuilding of gaza. >> let's start today's program by showing you these live actors from the pentagon in washington. the headquarters of the u.s. defense department, where defense secretary pete hegseth is hosting the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu. following the meeting between benjamin netanyahu and president trump onto the day. mr. trump said the u.s. would take over and own the gaza strip and the palestinians living in gaza could be resettled elsewhere. in the last couple of hours, mr. trump told reporters at the white house everybody loves his plan. that is despite a firm rejection of it from western allies and

arab countries in the region. not least them inside gaza itself. we will take you to benjamin netanyahu and pete hegseth when they appear, do to make some remarks. here is donald trump who was speaking at the swearing in of pam bondi as attorney general. >> a lot of people are talking about -- everybody loves it, but this is not the right time. we will maybe do something later. this is important and solemn occasion. i don't want to talk about other subjects. >> president trump has not said much more. his secretary of state appears to have clarified or reframed the u.s. position, saying president trump meant residence in gaza would only leave temporarily during reconstruction. >> in the interim, people will have to live somewhere while you are rebuilding it. it is akin to a natural disaster. but he very generously offered his the ability of the u.s. to help with the debris removal,

munitions removal, reconstruction, the rebuilding of homes and businesses so people can move back in. in the meantime they have to live somewhere. details of that if it was accepted would have to be worked out among multiple partner nations. it is a unique offer that no other country in the world has stepped up and made an offer. it is one people need to think about. it was not meant as a hostile move, it was a very generous move. >> we will keep an ion events at the pentagon. but let's go elsewhere in washington to the white house. our reporter is outside the white house. do you think that is what we were seeing with the comments from marco rubio? a reframing of what president trump was saying, or further detail being added? >> i think it was a reframing. we heard similar comments from the white house press secretary

a while ago. she framed it as being a humanitarian decision on the part of donald trump to make the proposal. she did not clarify what it would look like. she said for example u.s. troops, he's not committed to u.s. troops being deployed to gaza. the president said he would do what was necessary, nor how the president would overcome resistance from the arab states have spoken out. there are still many questions and people would like to see them answered. >> great amount of detail we don't actually know. there is tension between the idea of america first in bringing u.s. troops back in the idea of what president trump is talking about for the gaza strip. >> there is. carolyn levitt was asked about that in the briefing how a president who campaigned on the

promise of no forward entanglements could suggest such a thing. she said they would not pay for the complete rebuilding of gaza but did not offer specifics on who or how that would work. she did repeatedly go back to drum -- trump being a dealmaker. she and the president were confident they could come to the deal with their of c2 expressed concerns. she made the point other countries, columbia taking undocumented migrants back from the u.s. at first they said one thing but trump took steps to get what he wanted. i think there is a lack of clarity in terms of how it would work. but we are seeing the president and the white house make those points that we don't actually know how this would work just yet. >> thank you very much. what about reaction, insight

from israel and gaza? this is left of gaza after 15 months of war. around 2.3 million palestinians live here. almost every building damaged or destroyed since israel launched its airstrike in response to the hamas october 7 attacks. palestinians say the land is theirs, and those now returning, the journey home is just the start of a deeply uncertain future. national nudes organizations are not allowed independent access to gaza. lucy williamson sent this report from jerusalem. >> where donald trump sees a future riviera of the middle east, gazans see the beauty of what used to be here. the homes and lives they built before american weapons destroyed them, dropped by israel during 15 months of war. more than half a million people have returned to their homes in gaza's northern areas since the

cease-fire began, defiance still their first response. to the fantasies of a president and the realities of home. >> neither trump nor anyone else matters to me. after he made israel destroy our houses in gaza, now he is telling us because it is destroyed and we have to leave. we will clean up the rubble, sit on it, and live. whether they like it or not. >> the cease-fire has meant much more aid is getting into gaza. the priority has been food. the u.n. says 2 million people are fully dependent on food aid, but the lack of shelter has meant tens of thousands of new arrivals already returning to the south. life here precarious. even in the absence of war. there aren't enough tents to go around. this family used to live in a tower block, raised to the ground in the war.

>> we are trying to build a shelter. we are worried about it raining on us. i'm worried about everything. but i want to stay on my land, to live and die on it. >> many gazans trace their roots to places in what is now israel. refugees from the war that marked israel's creation as a state. many still see gaza itself as a temporary shelter. determined they will one day have the right to go home. lucy williamson, bbc, jerusalem. >> let's take you back to the pentagon. if you have been watching closely, pete hegseth has just arrived to greet prime minister benjamin netanyahu. the israeli prime minister who is in one of the heavily armored vehicles.

the motorcade pulling up the pentagon. we are told this is part of an honor guard ceremony. you have the men greeting one another. we are expecting them to make some remarks. precisely when, we are not clear. but keeping a close eye on that. and you could hear the question being called up by one of the gathered reporters. can you rule out sending troops to gaza? pete hegseth was asked, but no comment yet. national anthems being played right now. we did hear the white house press secretary when asked about troops, u.s. troops on the ground in gaza earlier saying there was no commitment to that yet. but it does seem if it was a suggestion it would not fit with

what president trump said about pulling u.s. troops out of locations abroad and the plans we have heard about the department of defense drafting just today to pull u.s. troops out of syria. why pull u.s. troops out of one country in the region but send them into another? as we have discussed on the program, a huge amount of detail to be filled in based on what president trump said in washington on tuesday, sitting alongside benjamin netanyahu, the first foreign leader to visit a u.s. president since he started his second term at the white house. so on to the u.s. national anthem. crossing to our correspondent who joins us from jerusalem. as we look at these live pictures of benjamin netanyahu and pete hegseth, i think a lot of people in israel and other parts of the world are clearly

trying to work out exactly what president trump's words about gaza mean. >> i think most people close to this treated the trump plan as a plan with disbelief. even though everyone in the region on both sides want some sort of progress, absolution after the war ends. the only people who have taken trump's word with glee and satisfaction are on the far right of israeli politics. one politician who was the national security minister and left the government of regiment netanyahu in protest of the current cease-fire deal. he said it is a beautiful relationship, mr. trump. he wants the israeli government to adopt trump's plans as official israeli government policy. officials don't see how it is going to work for practical,

legal, and other reasons. certainly in the arab world, palestinian leaders, countries like jordan and egypt, have said absolutely no way at all. it is a redline in the sand. they don't agree at all with the forced or encouraged migration of hundreds of thousands of palestinians. not only because it stands in the way of palestinian national interests and right to self-determination, but it would create a lot of instability in the region. imagine hundreds of thousands of sunni arabs moving to a country like jordan with delicate demographics and instability in these countries. for many reasons, most people in this region, i think the trump plan is a nonstarter. although trump is right on two points. gaza does remember -- resemble a demolition site. more than 60% of buildings have

been destroyed or very badly damaged. for practical reasons, there has to be a long-term solution to gaza and talk of a two state solution. every five or six years, those of us who have covered wars in this region know they will be back in the same place again. this has been the biggest of the wars between israel and gaza. that show of strength by hamas during the hostage handovers demonstrates too many irrespective of how overwhelming israel's victory has been in gaza, the likelihood is we will be back in five or six years covering another conflict. >> davis in jerusalem for us. pete hegseth, the u.s. defense secretary going inside the pentagon with the israeli prime minister. we will keep an eye on that meeting for you. and we will bring any comments from the men if they make any

comments after that meeting. around the world and across the u.k., this is bbc news. ♪

>> as we were discussing a moment ago. donald trump claims everybody loves his plan for gaza. but the regional reaction would suggest otherwise. saudi arabia has reaffirmed its rejection of any attempts to displace the palestinians from their land. riyadh has said it will not formalize ties with israel without a palestinian state. and egypt's foreign minister called for the swift reconstruction of gaza, stressing the importance of moving forward with early recovery projects after what they called an accelerated pace. let's hear from a spokesperson for the palestinian president. -- apologies, we don't have that clip. but let's discuss the situation.

joining me is the senior fellow and senior director for outreach at the middle east institute. really good to have you with us on the program. i was putting this question to someone the other day in the context of president trump's tariffs. a very different situation. but the same fundamental question in order to try to understand what is going on, we have to look at his purpose. what do you think president trump's intent was with the comments on gaza? >> good to be with you again. i think it is hard to put yourself in donald trump's shoes and get into his head. there are a couple of educated guesses as to where this might be coming from. one is the art of the deal as the president likes to refer to it. always create leverage before you go into a negotiation. setting the bar that high talking about the transfer of attention he millions of palestinians out of gaza. asking of america's arab allies,

egypt and jordan, to shoulder the burden might be the opening paying in the negotiations as donald trump sees it. also that as we approach the second phase of the crucial cease-fire between israel on one hand and hamas in gaza on the other, the israeli prime minister is in a difficult position with his finance minister threatening to resign, that can bring down the coalition government. that kind of proposition of the mass transfer of palestinians is popular with the extreme right. it might provide benjamin netanyahu with some of the cover he needs to see through the implementation of phase two of the cease-fire, which trump wants to see. very difficult. it seems he is riffing. it isn't a reflection of any thoughts or policy by his team. we heard secretary pompeo cleanup some of those comments. but they might be the drivers behind the thinking in the comments.

>> when you talked about negotiations, were you talking about the idea of egypt, jordan, and others? president trump hoping by making these comments on gaza he would encourage them to step up in terms of the reconstruction effort? >> yes and no. in terms of reconstruction presidents, president trump very much goes further afield to the gulf. countries that have deeper pockets and more means. but certainly in terms of the jordanians and egyptians and others, there is talk about the day after in gaza. what happens after the three phases of the cease-fire are implemented. who governs and rebuilds gaza. for all of those, arab partners will be crucial. there are some silver linings in the comments made by president trump in the presser which seems to be greater american readiness to play a role.

a lot of arab allies have been hesitant saying if you require us to put resources, boots on the ground security forces, we very much would like a broader american commitment, american resources and american boots on the ground to guarantee the process. comments that would not go down well in some quarters of president trump's administration. we know under the very broad tent in the administration there are foreign policy hoxie want to see a forward leaning american position in the region. but also abolitionists who don't want to see the american commitments, let alone in the middle east and gaza. >> we are nearly out of time. speaking of deeper pockets. one of the big regional issues is the normalization of the relationship between israel and saudi arabia. what do these comments due to those discussions? >> great question. we know one of the key foreign policy priorities for president

trump is achieving the deal of the century, the normalization between saudi arabia and israel. the suggestions in these off-the-cuff remarks about the deportation of palestinians from gaza only makes the objective that much farther away. the saudi position as a result of public opinion is only hardening. we saw midnight statement, 4:00 statement from saudi arabia very much rejecting the proposal trump put on the table. >> great to get your thoughts on those questions. thank you for your time. let's focus on the country trump sees as one of the u.s. main enemies in the region, iran. amidst the chaos of tuesday's remarks on gaza, the president signed an executive order to revive the maximum pressure campaign against iran. which implemented during his last term in office. including efforts to drive oil exports 20 to stop tehran from

obtaining a nuclear weapon. but iran has been making progress on that front. the new york times reported on new intelligence iran's nuclear scientists are working on fast tracking a nuclear weapon, searching for shortcuts should tehran's new leadership of the plan the green light. let's discuss it with senior fellow at the foundation for defense of democracies. thank you for your time. bring us up-to-date on the status of iran's nuclear program to the best of your knowledge. >> a pleasure to be with you. the nuclear program is fast escalating. it appears the islamic republic is increasing the enrichment quantity, meaning the kilograms of enriching. they have multiple levels, 20%, which is highly enriched, 60%, a hop skip and a jump from 90%, which they need for pure weapons grade uranium. also increasing the pace at which they are enriching at

these higher levels. the regime has also been circumscribing international monitoring. as it expands, the eyes are diminishing. that is by design. it is designed to increase the risk of pressure coming back by the new administration. >> what do you think iran will make of these comments from president trump about gaza and from others in his administration? >> there has been an about-face by the islamic republic. there is an unholy trinity, at least in the minds of iranian national security decision-makers around president trump. he broke the taboo in washington when it comes to standing with protesting iranians. he did more damage and 1.5 years of max pressure unilaterally than a decade of multilateral sanctions. and he killed the islamic republic's chief terrorist, who was the architect of the regional strategy of the regime. despite the islamic public

saying no in term one, it is seeking negotiations with trump to blunt the onset of the massive pressure 2.0. >> bring us up-to-date on the state of the relationship between rn and other key players in the region. >> if you look at the way the region is looking in 2025, minus israel, there is a lot more hedging by what my call the pro-american region. states in the persian gulf, chief among some saudi arabia and the uae, both have somewhat politically or at the surface level inched towards tehran. while they have not been hit decisively by the proxies of the islamic republic since october 7, it is part of their larger security strategy, akin to a knife in the back and a handshake in the front. a knife is the proxy in the missile and drone threat, which they leveled against the saudi's and iranians. the handshake is the deconfliction agreements and the normalization agreements.

chiefly saudi arabia. in 2015 when president obama was seeking and signing the new deal, the council states were the front line of pressure. now they seem to be the frontline of moderation and live because they have their own domestic concerns when it comes to saudi arabia normalization and vision 2030. you don't want a regional war distracting from that. >> what more can we expect from the trumpet of mr. risch in part two in terms of its policies towards iran? >> the president has been fairly consistent in his desire for a deal. you can trace it back to the campaign period before term one. he will likely stick to the wording of the presidential memorandum. maximum pressure in word and indeed on the economic side of the equation. it will be magnified by the fact that islamic republic has been set back militarily by the israelis in the region. will the rubber hit the road?

will the iranians engage with the americans? what happens when diplomacy fails? can maximum pressure be ramped up even further? at what point does the president have to consider kinetic options? >> been, senior fellow at the foundation for defense of democracies. thank you very much for that. we are going to bring you more details as we get it. various protests around the u.s. and at president trump's first two weeks in office, just over two weeks, people gathered for protest. we were prepared to bring you pictures, but because of certain language, we cannot do that at the moment. they are having a number -- happening in a number of cities and covering a number of issues from the situation in the middle east to what president trump is doing with the civil service, which we will be discussing on the program as well.

just a reminder the u.s. secretary of defense and the israeli prime minister are currently inside the pentagon holding talks, that is day two of benjamin netanyahu's visit to the u.s.. and we are waiting for them to emerge. we are told they will be making some comments when the emerge from the meeting. so we will bring that to you when it happens. stay with us on the context on bbc news. announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪

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