{"id":530691,"date":"2026-01-20T21:14:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T21:14:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/530691\/"},"modified":"2026-01-20T21:14:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T21:14:13","slug":"trump-we-think-we-know-the-location-of-the-last-israeli-hostage-body-in-gaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/530691\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump: We Think We Know the Location of the Last Israeli Hostage Body in Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-testid=\"rich-text\" class=\"x13faqbe x12ds5z6 x1rrzvkg x1txrjqu x115k1yo x126s5kd x1az39ph x1qxhirb xhhm3bp xjplvm8 x1ur7pbh\">More than 75 Democrats from both chambers of Congress urged the Trump administration to push back against Israeli efforts to annex the West Bank, demanding more involved U.S. action in the form of sanctions to preserve the &#8220;viability of a future Palestinian state.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"rich-text\" class=\"x13faqbe x12ds5z6 x1rrzvkg x1txrjqu x115k1yo x126s5kd x1az39ph x1qxhirb xhhm3bp xjplvm8 x1ur7pbh\">The lawmakers jointly urged the U.S. to communicate to Israel the negative consequences of pending Knesset legislation and the planned construction of settlement housing units in the <a class=\"x1bvjpef x1i43xu1 xx6stda x15spe28 x1wntsoc xj69yco xfw692k x41m6fz xly1mqq x1k57tk5 xg830sg x13dflua xfagghw xz4gly6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.haaretz.com\/israel-news\/2026-01-07\/ty-article\/.premium\/israel-issues-tender-for-controversial-construction-effectively-splitting-west-bank-in-two\/0000019b-9a15-d01b-a7db-9e1d30c20000\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">E1 area <\/a>of the West Bank outside of Jerusalem, as well as calling for the U.S. to reimpose Biden-era sanctions and to condemn acts of de-facto annexation undertaken by Israeli settlers.<\/p>\n<p><img data-chromatic=\"ignore\" title=\"Far-right Minister Smotrich in the West Bank presenting the plan to build in E1, in August. Credit: Menahem Kahana\/AFP\" alt=\"Far-right Minister Smotrich in the West Bank presenting the plan to build in E1, in August.\" width=\"2400\" height=\"1603\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/270094.jpg\"  decoding=\"async\" class=\"x1mraiob xxymvpz xt7dq6l x193iq5w xh8yej3 x1huxd7x\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><img data-chromatic=\"ignore\" title=\"Far-right Minister Smotrich in the West Bank presenting the plan to build in E1, in August. Credit: Menahem Kahana\/AFP\" alt=\"Far-right Minister Smotrich in the West Bank presenting the plan to build in E1, in August.\" width=\"2400\" height=\"1603\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/270094.jpg\"  decoding=\"async\" class=\"x1mraiob xxymvpz xt7dq6l x193iq5w xh8yej3\" loading=\"lazy\"\/>Close<\/p>\n<p>Far-right Minister Smotrich in the West Bank presenting the plan to build in E1, in August. Credit: Menahem Kahana\/AFP<\/p>\n<p>Far-right Minister Smotrich in the West Bank presenting the plan to build in E1, in August. Credit: Menahem Kahana\/AFP<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"rich-text\" class=\"x13faqbe x12ds5z6 x1rrzvkg x1txrjqu x115k1yo x126s5kd x1az39ph x1qxhirb xhhm3bp xjplvm8 x1ur7pbh\">&#8220;U.S. leadership is crucial at this moment. We need tangible steps to back these words with action, if we are to preserve the cease-fire in Gaza and the possibility of a negotiated two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict,&#8221; wrote the lawmakers, led by Sen. Peter Welch and Rep. Ro Khanna.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"rich-text\" class=\"x13faqbe x12ds5z6 x1rrzvkg x1txrjqu x115k1yo x126s5kd x1az39ph x1qxhirb xhhm3bp xjplvm8 x1ur7pbh\">&#8220;Despite the United States&#8217; opposition to annexation, segments of the Israeli government have recently reaffirmed their commitment to advancing Israeli sovereignty in the West Bank,&#8221; the lawmakers&#8217; statement said. &#8220;Alongside the Knesset&#8217;s preliminary approval of two draft bills to impose Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank, that body is also considering dozens of other proposed bills which, if enacted, would formalize various forms of annexation.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"rich-text\" class=\"x13faqbe x12ds5z6 x1rrzvkg x1txrjqu x115k1yo x126s5kd x1az39ph x1qxhirb xhhm3bp xjplvm8 x1ur7pbh\">They emphasized their concern for bills that would &#8220;absorb settlements north, east, and south of Jerusalem to create an expanded municipality under Israeli control.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"rich-text\" class=\"x13faqbe x12ds5z6 x1rrzvkg x1txrjqu x115k1yo x126s5kd x1az39ph x1qxhirb xhhm3bp xjplvm8 x1ur7pbh\">The lawmakers continued: &#8220;Combined with the recent approval of the E1 settlement project directly east of Jerusalem, these proposals would divide the West Bank into northern and southern enclaves, severing the contiguity of Palestinian land and \u2013 quite deliberately \u2013 undermining the viability of a future Palestinian state.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"rich-text\" class=\"x13faqbe x12ds5z6 x1rrzvkg x1txrjqu x115k1yo x126s5kd x1az39ph x1qxhirb xhhm3bp xjplvm8 x1ur7pbh\">&#8220;While this legislation is under consideration, de-facto annexation through targeted violence, intimidation of Palestinian communities, and forced displacement is already widespread.&#8221; The statement emphasized, &#8220;Throughout the West Bank, Israeli settlers are driving Palestinians off their land and expanding Israeli settlements, including in Taybeh, Wadi Foquin, Silwan, and Al-Walaja.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than 75 Democrats from both chambers of Congress urged the Trump administration to push back against Israeli&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":493280,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[372,109666,69,70,4527,86232,4783,4784,99,119115,30578,50,36737],"class_list":{"0":"post-530691","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-benjamin-netanyahu","9":"tag-cease-fire-hostage-release-talks","10":"tag-donald-trump","11":"tag-gaza","12":"tag-hamas","13":"tag-hamas-hostages","14":"tag-hezbollah","15":"tag-idf","16":"tag-israel","17":"tag-israel-u-s","18":"tag-israel-gaza-war","19":"tag-news","20":"tag-october-7"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115929498649009583","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=530691"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530691\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/493280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=530691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=530691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=530691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}