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President Trump again reiterated his proposal for the United States to take over Gaza, telling journalists about Air Force One on Sunday that the land strip was “a great real estate place” that the United States was going to “go to possess.”
He also mentioned building “some beautiful sites for people, the Palestinians, to live.” The location of such sites was not clear. Trump has repeatedly suggested that the two million Palestinians from the enclave are relocated.
Mr. Trump’s comments added even more confusion about the proposal, which he announced for the first time last week at a press conference at the White House together with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel. The idea has generated a generalized international conviction, with some critics who compared it to ethnic cleaning. Forced deportation or transfer of a civilian population is a violation of international law and a war crime, according to experts.
The senior administration of the Trump administration tried to return the president’s comments on Wednesday, one day after he announced the idea for the first time. They insisted that President Trump had not committed to sending US troops to Gaza and that any relocation of Palestinians was temporary.
On Sunday, while Trump was traveling to attend the Super Bowl in New Orleans, he raised the proposal again.
“Think about it as a large real estate site, and the United States possesses it,” he said on Gaza, according to an Air Force One audio recording that was shared with journalists.
“There will be no one there,” Trump added. “Hamas will not be there,” he said, referring to the militant group that directed the assault on Israel on October 7, 2023, who shot the war in Gaza. “We will build through other very rich countries in the Middle East; They will build some beautiful sites for people, the Palestinians, to live, ”he said.
Netanyahu, at a government meeting in Israel on Sunday, praised Mr. Trump’s vision for the region after the war. “There are opportunities with which I think we never dream, 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, Mr. Netanyahu said: “Much better for the state of Israel, a revolutionary and creative vision, which we are discussing. It is very determined to carry it out “
When Trump presented the proposal at the White House last week, his administration had not even done the most basic planning to examine the viability of the idea, according to people with knowledge of discussions. It would imply displacing two million Palestinians from Gaza; Trump suggested that they should be relocated in countries like Egypt and Jordan, which quickly rejected the idea.
At that press conference, Trump said the United States would take over the Gaza Strip, “and we will also do a job with her.” He said that the United States would be responsible for getting rid of unleashed ammunition and Gaza’s reconstruction, making him what he called, “the Riviera del Middle East.”
Yazbek error and Efrate Livni Contributed reports.
