US President Donald Trump declined on Monday to state whether he still backs a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, telling reporters at a White House dinner to “ask Bibi” and calling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “the greatest man in the world to answer that age-old question.” Netanyahu, seated beside him, said Palestinians should “have all the powers to govern themselves, but none of the powers to threaten us,” adding that “overall security will always remain in our hands.” Citing Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack, which killed about 1,200 Israelis and triggered the current Gaza war, the prime minister argued that any fully sovereign Palestinian state would serve as “a platform to destroy Israel.” The remarks come as Israeli and Hamas negotiators, with US mediation, pursue indirect talks in Qatar aimed at a Gaza cease-fire and hostage-release deal. Israel says about 50 of the 251 hostages seized on 7 October remain in captivity, while the Gaza health ministry puts Palestinian fatalities from Israel’s offensive at more than 57,000. Palestinian officials accuse Israel of undermining prospects for statehood through the war and West Bank settlement expansion.