Donald Trump has vowed that the US will “take over” war-ravaged Gaza and “own it”, effectively endorsing the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, in an announcement shocking even by the standards of his norm-shattering presidency.
Trump, who has previously threatened Greenland and Panama and suggested that Canada should become the 51st state, added Gaza to his expansionist agenda, claiming that it could become the “Riviera of the Middle East”. He declined to rule out sending US troops to make it happen.
“The only reason the Palestinians want to go back to Gaza is they have no alternative,” the president told a joint press conference with Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, at the White House on Tuesday evening. “It’s right now a demolition site. This is just a demolition site. Virtually every building is down.”
Arguing that Palestinians could live out their lives in “peace and harmony” elsewhere, Trump continued: “The US 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.
“If it’s necessary, we’ll do that, we’re going to take over that piece, 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.”
Later, the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, wrote in a post on X: “The United States stands ready to lead and Make Gaza Beautiful Again. Our pursuit is one of lasting peace in the region for all people.”
The announcement followed a surprise proposal from Trump, a property developer, earlier on Tuesday for the permanent resettlement in neighbouring countries of the 2 million Palestinians who live in Gaza.
He called for Jordan, Egypt and other Arab states to take in Palestinians from Gaza, saying they 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.
Trump said he would support resettling Palestinians “permanently”, going beyond his previous suggestions that Arab leaders have already steadfastly rejected.
But he offered no specifics on how a resettlement process could be implemented. His proposal echoed the wishes of Israel’s far right and contradicted the former president Joe Biden’s commitment against the mass displacement of Palestinians.
At the press conference, in which hundreds of journalists crowded into the east room, the president was asked if the plan might involve US military force. “As far as Gaza is concerned, we’ll do what is necessary,” he said. “If it’s necessary, we’ll do that.”
He did not directly respond to a question of how and under what authority the US could take over the land of Gaza and occupy it in the long term.
“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,” he went on, claiming that he had spoken to regional leaders and they supported the idea. “Everybody I’ve spoken to loves the idea of the United States owning that piece of land,” he said.
“I’ve studied this very closely over a lot of months,” Trump added, describing Gaza as a “hellhole” and “symbol of death and destruction”. He said Palestinians there should be housed in “various domains” in other countries and expressed hope that the leaders of Egypt and Jordan would “open their hearts” to the idea over time.
Pressed on who would live in a redeveloped Gaza, Trump said it could become a home to “the world’s people”, adding: “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 valuable, this could be so magnificent.”
Netanyahu, who praised Trump as “the greatest friend Israel has ever had in the White House”, said “it’s worth paying attention to this” idea and added that it was “something that could change history”.
Trump was “thinking outside the box with fresh ideas”, Netanyahu observed, and was “showing willingness to puncture conventional thinking.”
Forced displacement of Gaza’s population would probably be a violation of international law and would be fiercely opposed not only in the region but also by America’s western allies. Some human rights advocates liken the idea to ethnic cleansing.
There was a chorus of criticism within the US. Rashida Tlaib, a Palestinian-American member of Congress, said: “Palestinians aren’t going anywhere. This president can only spew this fanatical bullshit because of bipartisan support in Congress for funding genocide and ethnic cleansing. It’s time for my two-state solution colleagues to speak up.”
Chris Van Hollen, a Democratic senator for Maryland, commented: “Trump’s proposal to push 2 million Palestinians out of Gaza and take ‘ownership’ by force, if necessary, is simply ethnic cleansing by another name.
“This declaration will give ammunition to Iran and other adversaries while undermining our Arab partners in the region. It defies decades of bipartisan American support for a two-state solution … Congress must stand up to this dangerous and reckless scheme.”
The Council on American Islamic Relations, a Muslim advocacy group, said in a statement: “Gaza belongs to the Palestinian people, not the United States, and President Trump’s call to expel Palestinians from their land is an absolute non-starter.
“If the Palestinian people were ever somehow forcibly expelled from Gaza, this crime against humanity would spark widespread conflict, put the final nail in the coffin of international law, and destroy what remains of our nation’s international image and standing.”
Paul O’Brien, the executive director of Amnesty International USA, added: “Removing all Palestinians from Gaza is tantamount to destroying them as a people. Gaza is their home. Gaza’s death and destruction is a result of the government of Israel killing civilians by the thousands, often with US bombs.”
The Saudi government stressed its rejection of any attempt to displace Palestinians from their land and said it would not establish relations with Israel without establishment of a Palestinian state. The Palestinian envoy to the United Nations said that world leaders and people should respect Palestinians’ desire to remain in Gaza.
Hamas condemned Trump’s calls for Palestinians in Gaza to leave as “expulsion from their land”.
The Guardian
