U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday night, February 4 that the United States will take over the Gaza Strip, resettle Palestinians in other countries and turn the territory into a “Riviera of the Middle East.”
Trump said the United States will take over the war-affected Gaza Strip after Palestinians are placed elsewhere and make a shocking announcement at a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
The news comes after a proposal earlier on Tuesday for permanent resettlement of Palestinians from Gaza to neighboring countries, calling Palestinians an enclave – fragile Israel – the first phase of the Hamas ceasefire is actually “Demolition site”.
The U.S. direct stake in Gaza will be contrary to Washington’s long-term policy that believes Gaza will become part of future Palestinian states, including the occupation of the West Bank.
“The United States will take over the Gaza Strip and we will work with it,” Trump told reporters. “We will own it and be responsible for removing all the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the scene.”
“If necessary, we’re going to take over that piece, we’re going to develop it, create thousands of jobs, and that’s going to be something that the entire Middle East can be very, very proud of,” Trump added.
“I do see long-term ownership status and I think that brings a lot of stability to that part of the Middle East,” he said.
When asked who would live there, Trump said it could become the home of the “people of the world”. Trump touts the narrow zone, Israeli military attack on Hamas in response to Hamas October 7, 2023, cross-border attacks escalate the big fragment as potentially becoming the “Riviera of the Middle East” .
Trump did not directly answer a question about how and what authority the United States could take over and occupy Gaza, the home of about 2 million people who control a long history of violence in the coastal zone. The successive U.S. government, including Trump during his first term, avoided deploying U.S. troops there.
Netanyahu refused to be drawn outside of the proposal in-depth discussion, rather than praising Trump for trying a new approach.
The Israeli leader’s army fought fiercely with Hamas militants in Gaza for more than a year, saying Trump was “thinking new ideas in the box” and “expressing a willingness to pierce traditional thinking.”
Jonathan Panikoff, deputy U.S. national intelligence official in the Near East, said Trump’s plan would mean a long U.S. military commitment if the Arab world would be seen as founding because Washington “don’t come from Iraq and Iraq and the country are studying its curriculum, Afghanistan.”
Trump has earlier repeated his call for Jordan, Egypt and other Arab countries to take over Gaza, saying Palestinians have no choice but to give up the coastal zone, nearly 16 between Israel and Hamas militants After months of devastating war, the coastal zone must be rebuilt.
The force of Gaza’s population may violate international law, not only in the region, but also strong opposition in Western allies in Washington.
Hamas senior official Sami Abu Zuhri has condemned Trump’s call for Gazans as a “expelling their land.”
“We think they are the secret to the chaos and tensions in the region, because the people of Gaza will not allow such a plan to pass,” he said.
The Saudi government highlighted any attempt to deprive Palestinians of land in a statement and said that without a Palestinian state, there would be no relationship with Israel.
