U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the United States should take control of Gaza and proposed resettling displaced Palestinians in Gaza to permanent residence outside the war-torn territory. He also suggested that the U.S. take “ownership” for turning the area into the "Riviera of the Middle East".
This is reported by the Associated Press.
"The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too. We’ll make sure that it’s done world-class. It’ll be wonderful for the people — Palestinians, Palestinians mostly, we’re talking about," Trump said at an evening press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House.
This is a population of about 1.8 million people.
He made the remarks amid a fragile ceasefire and a hostage-free deal in the Israeli-Hamas conflict.
Trump said the United States would rebuild the area after Palestinians are relocated and turn it into a place where "world’s people" will live, including Palestinians. However, he did not provide any details about what authority the United States could use to take the land and develop it.
“I do see a long-term ownership position” for the United States, Mr. Trump said, adding that “everybody I’ve spoken to loves the idea of the United States owning that piece of land, developing and creating thousands of jobs with something that will be magnificent,” The Wall Street Journal reports.
The newspaper also noted that the proposal, if implemented, would deeply involve the United States in a development project that Trump officials have said could take 10 to 15 years. At the same time, he left out of consideration the question of how the United States would convince the Palestinians to voluntarily give up their land and whether Israel would ultimately exercise sovereignty over the territory.
The media noted that Trump did not rule out sending American troops to hold Gaza, which could be the beginning of a long-term American military occupation of the Middle East, which Trump has long condemned.
Netanyahu, meanwhile, said that one of his key goals is to ensure that Gaza is never again a haven for terrorists. Trump, he said, has taken this concept to a much higher level.
"This is something that can change history, and it is really worth going down this path," Netanyahu said.
Among other things, Trump said in his statement, as quoted by The New York Times, the United States "will own it (the Gaza Strip - ed.) and be responsible" for the disposal of unexploded ordnance and the reconstruction of Gaza into a mecca of jobs and tourism.
The publication emphasizes that although Trump framed this issue as a humanitarian imperative and an opportunity for economic development, he has in fact "reopened a geopolitical Pandora’s box with far-reaching implications for the Middle East."
In announcing the plan, Trump did not refer to any legal authority that would give him the right to seize territory, nor did he pay attention to the fact that the forced displacement of populations violates international law and decades of consensus in U.S. foreign policy in both parties.
The NYT also notes that Netanyahu smiled with satisfaction when the President first outlined his ideas. Later, during a joint press conference, the Israeli Prime Minister was full of praise for Trump.
“You cut to the chase,” Mr. Netanyahu told Mr. Trump. “You see things others refuse to see. You say things others refuse to say, and after the jaws dropped, people scratch their heads and they say, ‘you know, he’s right,’” the publication quotes.
In his speech, Trump insisted that the Palestinians would quickly embrace his idea.
“I don’t think people should be going back to Gaza,” Mr. Trump said. “I heard that Gaza has been very unlucky for them. They live like hell. They live like they’re living in hell. Gaza is not a place for people to be living, and the only reason they want to go back, and I believe this strongly, is because they have no alternative,” Trump said.
He suggested that countries in the region could fund the relocation of Gazans to new locations — perhaps “a good, fresh, beautiful piece of land” that would provide better living conditions.
When asked how many Palestinians he meant, he said “all of them,” adding, “I would think that they would be thrilled.” Asked repeatedly whether he would force them to go even if they didn’t want to, Trump said, “I don’t think they’re going to tell me no.”
Meanwhile, the Associated Press notes that Egypt, Jordan and other U.S. allies in the Middle East have warned Trump that moving Palestinians from Gaza threatens stability in the Middle East, risks widening the conflict and undermining decades of U.S. and allied efforts to achieve a two-state solution.
The Saudi Foreign Ministry sharply responded to Trump's statement, saying its long-standing call for an independent Palestinian state was a "firm, steadfast and unwavering position." Saudi Arabia is negotiating with the United States for a deal to recognize Israel diplomatically in exchange for a security pact and other conditions.
"The duty of the international community today is to work to alleviate the severe human suffering endured by the Palestinian people, who will remain committed to their land and will not budge from it," the Saudi statement said.
In addition, last week, both Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and Jordanian King Abdullah II rejected Trump's calls to resettle Gazans. But Trump said he believed Egypt and Jordan, as well as other countries he did not name, would eventually agree to take in the Palestinians.
The U.S. President's proposal was met with alarm by Democrats and some skepticism from his Republican allies.
Hamas, which provoked the war with its attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, said Trump’s proposal was “a recipe for creating chaos and tension in the region.”
It is worth noting that Trump’s proposal is a break with decades of American policy that has completely destroyed the idea of a Palestinian state. Taking Gaza out of Palestinian control would result in the rejection of a large part of Palestinian territory that U.S. presidents, including the first Trump administration, have said for decades would be part of a future Palestinian state.
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