President Donald Trump said the U.S. would take over the war-ravaged Gaza Strip and develop it economically after Palestinians are resettled elsewhere.
Trump unveiled his surprise plan at a joint press conference on Tuesday, 4th February, with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The announcement followed Trump’s shock proposal earlier on Tuesday for the permanent resettlement of the more than two million Palestinians from Gaza to neighbouring countries, calling the enclave – where the first phase of a fragile Israel-Hamas ceasefire and hostage release deal is in effect – a “demolition site.”
Trump can expect allies and foes alike to strongly oppose any U.S. takeover of Gaza, and his proposal raises questions about whether Middle East power Saudi Arabia would be willing to join a renewed U.S.-brokered push for a historic normalisation of relations with U.S. ally Israel.
The U.S. taking a direct stake in Gaza would run counter to longtime policy in Washington and for much of the international community, which has held that Gaza would be part of a future Palestinian state that includes the occupied West Bank.
“The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too,” Trump told reporters. “We’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site.”
“We’re going to develop it, create thousands and thousands of jobs, and it’ll be something that the entire Middle East can be very proud of,” Trump said. “I do see a long-term ownership position and I see it bringing great stability to that part of the Middle East.”
Asked who would live there, Trump said it could become a home to “the world’s people.” Trump touted the narrow strip, where Israel’s military assault in response to Hamas’ 7th October 2023 cross-border attack has levelled large swaths, as having the potential to be “The Riviera of the Middle East.”
Trump did not directly respond to a question of how and under what authority the U.S. can take over and occupy Gaza, a coastal strip 25 miles (45 km) long and at most 6 miles (10 km) wide, with a violent history. Successive U.S. administrations, including Trump in his first term, had avoided deploying U.S. troops there.
Several Democratic lawmakers quickly condemned the Republican president’s Gaza proposals.
Netanyahu, referred to a few times by Trump by his nickname, “Bibi,” would not be drawn into discussing the proposal in depth other than to praise Trump for trying a new approach.
The Israeli leader, whose military had engaged in more than a year of fierce fighting with Hamas militants in Gaza, said Trump was “thinking outside the box with fresh ideas” and was “showing willingness to puncture conventional thinking.”
Netanyahu may have been relieved that Trump, who forged close ties with the Israeli leader during his first term in the White House, did not pressure him publicly to maintain the ceasefire. He faces threats from far-right members of his coalition to topple his government unless he restarts the fighting in Gaza to destroy Iran-backed Hamas.
Some experts have suggested Trump sometimes takes an extreme position internationally to set the parameters for future negotiations. In his first term, Trump at times issued what were seen as over-the-top foreign policy pronouncements, many of which he never implemented.
A U.N. damage assessment released in January showed that clearing over 50 million tonnes of rubble left in Gaza in the aftermath of Israel’s bombardment could take 21 years and cost up to $1.2 billion.
Trump earlier repeated his call for Jordan, Egypt and other Arab states to take in Gazans, saying Palestinians there had no alternative but to abandon the coastal strip, which must be rebuilt after nearly 16 months of a devastating war between Israel and Hamas militants.
But this time, Trump said he would support resettling Palestinians “permanently,” going beyond his previous suggestions that Arab leaders had already steadfastly rejected.
