https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaG07sTJENxyeTTfph1G *INTERNATIONAL NEWS* *05 February 2025* *NEWS HEADLINES* *Trump says US will ‘take over’ Gaza as he welcomes Netanyahu* *China hits back with tariffs on US goods after Trump imposes new levies* *DRC government points fingers at Rwanda for the killing South African, Malawian and Tanzanian soldiers* *NEWS IN DETAIL* *Trump says US will ‘take over’ Gaza as he welcomes Netanyahu* Donald Trump proposed the US “take over” the Gaza Strip during talks with Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump suggested Palestinians move to countries such as Egypt and Jordan, but both nations rejected this. Netanyahu praised Trump as Israel’s “greatest friend” and said the plan could “change history”. President Donald Trump made an extraordinary proposal for the United States to “take over” the Gaza Strip, as he hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for crucial talks on the truce with Hamas. Trump also doubled down on his call for Palestinians to move out of the war-battered territory to Middle Eastern countries such as Egypt and Jordan, despite the Palestinians and both nations flatly rejecting his suggestion. “The US will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it, too. We’ll own it,” Trump told a joint press conference with Netanyahu. Trump said the US would get rid of unexploded bombs, “level the site” and remove destroyed buildings, and “create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area”. Advertisement Advertise with NZME. But Trump appeared to suggest that it was not Palestinians who would return there. “It should not go through a process of rebuilding and occupation by the same people that have really stood there and fought for it and lived there and died there and lived a miserable existence there,” he said. He said Gaza’s 2 million inhabitants should instead “go to other countries of interest with humanitarian hearts”. Netanyahu hailed Trump as the “greatest friend Israel has ever had”. Advertisement Advertise with NZME. He said the US President’s Gaza plan could “change history” and was worth “paying attention to”. Egypt and Jordan have flatly rejected Trump’s suggestion of moving Palestinians from Gaza. The Palestinian envoy to the United Nations meanwhile said world leaders should “respect” the wishes of Palestinians. Gazans have also denounced Trump’s idea. “Trump thinks Gaza is a pile of garbage — absolutely not,” said 34-year-old Hatem Azzam, a resident of the southern city of Rafah. US President Donald Trump meets with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House. Photo / AFP US President Donald Trump meets with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House. Photo / AFP The US President has claimed credit for securing the first six-week phase of the Israel-Hamas truce after more than 15 months of fighting and bombing, and he was expected to urge Netanyahu to move to the next phase aimed at a more lasting peace. Netanyahu earlier said “we’re going to try” when asked how optimistic he was about moving on to phase two. He hailed Trump’s “great force and powerful leadership” in sealing the original ceasefire deal, and took a swipe at former President Joe Biden, with whom he had tense relations over the death toll in Gaza. “When the other side sees daylight between us — and occasionally in the last few years they saw daylight — it’s more difficult. When we cooperate, chances are good,” Netanyahu said. Israel said hours ahead of the White House talks it was sending a team to mediator Qatar to discuss the second phase of the agreement. Hamas said on Tuesday negotiations for the second phase had begun, with spokesman Abdel Latif al-Qanou saying the focus was on “shelter, relief and reconstruction”. Advertisement Advertise with NZME. Under the first phase of the ceasefire, Palestinian militants and Israel have begun exchanging hostages. Eighteen hostages have been freed so far in exchange for some 600 mostly Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails. The war began when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, taking into Gaza 251 hostages, 76 of whom are still held in the Palestinian territory including 34 the Israeli military says are dead. Families of the Israeli hostages have been urging all sides to ensure the agreement is maintained so their loved ones can be freed. Since the Gaza ceasefire took effect on January 19, Israel has launched a deadly operation against militants in the occupied West Bank’s north. UN aid agency UNRWA — which is now banned in Israel — warned that the heavily impacted refugee camp of Jenin was “going into a catastrophic direction”. Advertisement Advertise with NZME. On Tuesday, the Israeli Army said a gunman killed two soldiers before being shot dead in an attack south of Jenin. The truce has also led to a surge of food, fuel, medical and other aid into Gaza, and allowed people displaced by the war to return to the north of the Palestinian territory. Discover more Trump says tariffs ‘pain’ will be ‘worth the price’...... ‘We will not leave’: Palestinians slam Trump’s idea ... ‘A game of billiards’: What four years of Trump means ... Hamas’ October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of 1210 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. Israel’s retaliatory response has killed at least 47,518 people in Gaza, the majority civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The UN considers these figures as reliable. _New Zealand Herald/AFP_ *China hits back with tariffs on US goods after Trump imposes new levies* China has announced a wide range of measures targeting US businesses including Google, farm equipment makers and the owner of fashion brand Calvin Klein, minutes after new US tariffs on Chinese goods took effect. China also slapped tariffs on US products such as coal, oil and some autos in a rapid response to the new duties on Chinese goods imposed by US President Donald Trump, escalating trade tensions between the world's two biggest economies. China's State Administration for Market Regulation said Google was suspected of violating the country's anti-monopoly law and an investigation was initiated in accordance with the law. It did provide further details on the investigation or on what it alleged Google had done to breach the law. Google products such as its search engine are blocked in China and its revenue from there is about 1% of global sales. It still works with Chinese partners such as advertisers. In 2017, Google announced the launch of a small artificial intelligence centre in China. But the project was disbanded two years later and the firm does not conduct AI research in China, according to a blog posting. Separately, China's Commerce Ministry said it had put PVH Corp, the holding company for brands including Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, and US biotechnology firm Illumina on its "unreliable entity" list. It said the two companies took what it called "discriminatory measures against Chinese enterprises" and "damaged" the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies. Companies added to the blacklist can be subject to fines and a broad range of other sanctions, including a freeze on trade and revocation of work permits for foreign staff. Google declined to comment. PVH and Illumina did not respond to requests for comment outside regular US business hours. PVH had already been under scrutiny from Chinese regulators over "improper" conduct related to the Xinjiang region. "These moves are warnings that China intends to harm US interests if need be, but still give China the option to backdown," Capital Economics said in a note. "The tariffs could be postponed or cancelled before they come into effect... The probe against Google could conclude without any penalties." China also announced 10% tariffs on imports of US farm equipment that could impact firms such as Caterpillar, Deere & Co and AGCO, as well as a small number of trucks and big-engine sedans shipped to China from the United States. That could apply to Elon Musk's Cybertruck, a niche offering Tesla has been promoting in China, as it awaits regulatory clearance to begin sales. China's Ministry of Industry and Information technology designated the Cybertruck as a "passenger car" in a posting in December that was quickly deleted. If the Cybertruck was designated as an electric truck, Tesla would face a 10% tariff on any future imports from its factory in Texas. Tesla had no immediate comment. The new tariffs on US products will start on 10 February, the ministry said. The announcements ramped up trade restrictions between China and the US that had been largely limited to the tech sector under the administration of former president Joe Biden, which sought to restrict China's access to high-end semiconductors. China said in December it had launched an investigation into Nvidia over a suspected violation of the country's anti-monopoly law, a probe widely seen as a retaliatory shot against Washington's latest curbs on the Chinese chip sector. Intel's products sold in China were also called fora security review late last year by an influential Chinese industry group. _RTE_ *DRC government points fingers at Rwanda for the killing South African, Malawian and Tanzanian soldiers* As tensions continue to simmer in South Africa over the killing of South African soldiers following a fierce battle in Democratic Republic of Congo, the vast country situated in central Africa has accused its neighbour Rwanda of involvement in the heinous acts. Chief of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF), General Rudzani Maphwanya has told Parliament’s defence portfolio committee that remains of the 14 soldiers who died in Goma, the capital and largest city of North Kivu province in the eastern DRC are expected to arrive on home soil on Wednesday. Speaking to broadcaster Newzroom Afrika, DRC’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation, and Francophonie, Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner, said the joint summit will be a moment of reckoning. “I think it is a moment of reckoning for us as Africans. I find it particularly distressing when in 2025 we find ourselves in such harrowing situations. The scenes that we have seen from Goma. I find it unbearable that in 2025 we find ourselves in situations where Africans kill other Africans," she said. “This is not just talking about Rwandan forces killing Congolese (people), but also South Africans, but also people from Malawians, but also people from Tanzania.” The Kinshasa diplomat insisted that the presence of Rwandan troops on the DRC soil is beyond question. She said at the high-stakes joint summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the East African Community (EAC) scheduled for Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on Saturday, to address the deepening crisis in DRC, egos will be set aside DRC President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame – the main protagonists in the war which has sucked different regions of Africa – are both scheduled to attend the joint summit. “This is a moment that I really hope that everyone goes beyond their personal egos, beyond whatever has motivated them to engage in such inhumane action that have led to so many years of suffering. We understand as Africans that this is the moment where we change, we reverse the tide, we open a new chapter that is one where we can look at the potential that we have as a continent,” said Wagner. Kinshasa’s Foreign Minister has expressed condolences to the South African government and the families of the soldiers who lost their lives in the DRC. The rebel group that claims to have taken control of city of Goma has called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, after fierce fighting with the Congolese military and the foreign peacekeepers, which has reportedly left hundreds of people dead. However, Wagner said the ceasefire is not sufficient. “The M23 has issued a unilateral ceasefire on humanitarian grounds. We have yet to see what that means concretely. For humanitarian solutions, for humanitarian access to be re-established, first of all we would need Goma to be de-militarised, we would need the M23 to leave immediately as we as the Rwandan Defence Forces which are de facto occupying a sovereign part of the DRC,” she told Newzroom Afrika. The rebel coalition in the DRC, the Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC) which includes the M23 armed group has declared the declared the truce which started on Tuesday. President of the Republic of Rwanda, Paul Kagame. Rwanda has been repeatedly accused of supporting the M23 rebel group, but it denies the allegations. _IOL_