US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday evening that the United States regards destroying the capabilities of Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon as "very important.""Destroying the capabilities of Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon is very important to us. You have a long memory, and so do we," Hegseth said."We welcome the elimination of the person responsible for killing marines in Lebanon. We released ammunition that had been delayed for a long time," he added.Hegseth noted, "Regarding Gaza, insanity is doing the same thing over and over again. Therefore, other solutions are needed. Here at the Pentagon, we are prepared for all kinds of plans."Additionally, Hegseth said that the United States is "prepared to consider all options" when asked about the possibility of deploying forces to Gaza.

Saudi Arabia will not establish ties with Israel without the establishment of a Palestinian state, the foreign ministry said in a statement, reaffirming that the kingdom's stance is firm and unwavering.

The notion of a US takeover of Gaza was only developed recently, two officials from the Trump administration told the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday.US President Trump reportedly ran it by aides and allies in recent days, and officials outside of Trump’s inner circle were apparently "not aware the idea was on the table during days of planning for the meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu."

The Palestinian Hamas movement is ready to establish contact and hold talks with the administration of US President Donald Trump, Russia's RIA state news agency cited a senior Hamas official as saying in remarks published early on Wednesday."We are ready for contact and talks with the Trump administration," RIA cited senior Hamas Politburo member Mousa Abu Marzouk as saying."In the past, we did not object to contacts with the administration of (former US President Joe) Biden, Trump or any other US administration, and we are open to talks with all international parties."It was not clear when RIA interviewed Marzouk, who was visiting Moscow on Monday for talks with the Russian foreign ministry.

There is a high likelihood that the Otzma Yehudit party will return to the government, Itamar Ben-Gvir said to the Galey Israel radio on Wednesday. "I haven't tailored a minister's suit again yet, but there's no doubt that the chances of Otzma Yehudit returning to the government have increased," he said following US President Donald Trump's comments on Tuesday regarding the transfer of Palestinians from Gaza. "The ball is now in the prime minister's hands—if he moves forward with it, I'm fully by his side. Once things start and there's an intention to implement—I’m coming back. I don’t want to elaborate, but there are already plans," he added.