President Trump again reiterated his proposal so that the United States took over Gaza, telling the journalists of the Air Force One on Sunday that the earth band was “a large real estate site” that the United States “were going to have”.
He also mentioned the construction “beautiful sites for people, the Palestinians, to live”. The location of these sites was not clear. Trump has repeatedly suggested that the two million Palestinians in the enclave move.
Mr. Trump’s comments added even more confusion around the proposal, which he announced last week at a press conference at the White House alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel. The idea aroused a general condemnation, some criticism comparing it to ethnic cleaning. Forced deportation or the transfer of a civilian population constitutes a violation of international law and a war crime, according to experts.
On Wednesday, senior officials of the Trump administration tried to return to the president’s comments one day after announcing the idea for the first time. They insisted that President Trump had not committed to sending American troops to Gaza and that any relocation of the Palestinians would be temporary.
On Sunday, when Mr. Trump was traveling to attend the Super Bowl in New Orleans, he again raised the proposal.
“Consider it as a large real estate site, and the United States will own it,” he said about Gaza, according to an Air Force One audio recording that was shared with journalists.
“There will be no one there,” added Trump. “Hamas will not be there,” he said, referring to the militant group which led to Israel on October 7, 2023, which sparked the war in Gaza. “We are going to build in other very rich countries in the Middle East; They build beautiful sites for people, the Palestinians, to live, ”he said.
Netanyahu, on Sunday, during a government meeting in Israel, praised Mr. Trump’s vision for the region after the war. “There are possibilities of possibilities that I think we never dreamed of, or at least a few months ago, they did not seem possible-but they are possible,” he said.
“President Trump came with a completely different vision”, for the future of Gaza, Netanyahu said, “much better for the State of Israel, a revolutionary and creative vision, which we discuss. He is very determined to make it.
When Mr. Trump presented the proposal to the White House last week, his administration had not even made the most basic planning to examine the feasibility of the idea, according to people with discussions. This would involve moving two million Gaza Palestinians; Trump suggested that they should be moved to countries like Egypt and Jordan, which quickly rejected the idea.
At this press conference, Trump said the United States would take control of the Gaza Strip, “and we will also do a job with this.” He said the United States would be responsible for eliminating unplodced ammunition and the reconstruction of Gaza, ultimately transforming it into what it called “the riviera of the Middle East”.
Hiba yazbek And Ephrat Livni Contributed reports.
