Newsman: President Donald Trump doubled down on controversial plans for the Gaza Strip on Thursday, saying the Palestinian enclave would be “turned over to the United States by Israel” once the war there ends.
The comments in a string of posts on Truth Social followed his proposal for the U.S. to “take over” and “develop” Gaza, which were derided by rivals and even questioned by close allies earlier this week.
Trump’s proposal to seize control of Gaza and potentially oust the roughly 2.2 million Palestinians who live there.
In his post on Truth Social, Trump suggested that Palestinians could be “resettled in far safer and more beautiful communities, with new and modern homes, in the region,” adding fresh confusion to discrepancies in his stance on the future of Palestinians in Gaza.
It comes after Trump made contradictory comments Tuesday on whether he foresaw Palestinians being able to live in a future Gaza that he described as the “riviera of the Middle East.”
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday evening said the president was “committed to rebuilding Gaza and to temporarily relocating” Palestinians during those reconstruction efforts. Leavitt also said Trump had not committed to sending any troops to Gaza as part of his plans.
President Donald Trump, proposing a major shift in Middle East policy, called for the U.S. to take over the Gaza Strip and relocate roughly two million Palestinians to neighboring Arab countries. His goal, he said, is to turn the war-ravaged enclave into the “Riviera of the Middle East.”
”We’ll own it,” Trump said in a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in his first White House meeting. “Level it out, create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area.”
President Donald Trump stunningly said Tuesday that the U.S. will “take over” the Gaza Strip, “level the site” and rebuild it following his earlier statement saying Palestinians living there should leave.
“They instead can occupy all of a beautiful area with homes and safety, and they can live out their lives in peace and harmony” in other areas or countries, he said at a news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it, too. We’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site. Level the site and get rid of the destroyed buildings. Level it out,” he said.
“Create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area,” he added. “Do a real job. Do something different.”
“We should go to other countries of interest with humanitarian hearts, and there are many of them that want to do this, and build various domains that will ultimately be occupied by the 1.8 million Palestinians living in Gaza, ending the death and destruction and frankly, bad luck,” he said. “This can be paid for by neighboring countries of great wealth. It could be one, two, three, four, five, seven, eight, 12. It could be numerous sites, or it could be one large site,” he said.
“But the people will be able to live in comfort and peace and will get sure — we’ll make sure something really spectacular is done. They’re going to have peace. They’re not going to be shot at and killed and destroyed like this civilization of — of wonderful people has had to endure. The only reason the Palestinians want to go back to Gaza is they have no alternative,” he said.
“I do see a long-term ownership position, and I see it bringing great stability to that part of the Middle East and maybe the entire Middle East. And everybody I have spoken to, this was not a decision made lightly,” he continued. “Everybody I have 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 in a really magnificent area that nobody would know.”
When asked who would live there, Trump responded, “the world’s people,” saying, “the potential in the Gaza Strip is unbelievable.”
“History, as you know, just can’t let it keep repeating itself. We have an opportunity to do something that could be phenomenal. And I don’t want to be cute. I don’t want to be a wise guy. But the Riviera of the Middle East, this could be something that could be so … magnificent,” he said.
Earlier, in the Oval Office, when he also raised the idea, a reporters asked if Palestinians relocated would have the right to return.
“Why would they want to return?” he responded.
“It would be my hope that we could do something really nice, really good, where they wouldn’t want to return,” he said. Why would they want to return? That place has been hell. It’s been one of the meanest, one of the meanest, toughest places on earth,” he said.
Asked about sending U.S. troops to Gaza, Trump appeared open to the possibility.
“As far as Gaza is concerned, we’ll do what is necessary. If it’s necessary, we’ll do that,” Trump said. “We’re going to take over that place and we’re going to develop it, create thousands and thousands of jobs.”
Trump’s proposal has sparked anger, fear and disbelief across the Middle East and around the world, with some officials, analysts and human rights groups saying the plan is tantamount to ethnic cleansing.
The proposal has been widely condemned as dismissing the Palestinian cause — the bid for internationally recognized statehood. And it has also been a painful reminder for Palestinians of the 1948 “Nakba,” when some 700,000 Palestinians fled or were forced from their homes during the creation of Israel.
Israel’s leader Netanyahu, delivering remarks after Trump, praised the president for his “fresh ideas” to accomplish their goals, which he said included ensuring Gaza is not a threat to Israel.
“I believe, Mr. President, that your willingness to puncture conventional thinking, thinking that has failed time and time and time again, your willingness to think outside the box with fresh ideas will help us achieve all these goals,” he said.
Asked if his view that Palestinians should be relocated from Gaza is a sign that he is against the two-state policy that has been the foreign policy approach of the United States for decades, Trump said no.
“It doesn’t mean anything about a two-state or one state or any other state. It means that we want to have, we want to give people a chance at life,” he said. “They have never had a chance at life because the Gaza Strip has been a hellhole for people living there. It’s been horrible.”
