President Donald Trump revealed an innovative new strategy for the Middle East on Tuesday. According to the plan, the United States would assume authority over the turbulent Gaza strip, while relocating its Palestinian inhabitants to nearby nations.
It is the latest evolution in his plan for rebuilding a territory devastated by Israeli bombardment.
His words will sow fear in the Palestinian population but Trump insisted it was time for a new way of thinking.
During a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he announced, ‘The US will take control of the Gaza Strip and we will handle it effectively.’
‘We will take ownership and oversee the removal of all hazardous unexploded munitions and weaponry in the area. Additionally, we will flatten the territory and eliminate the damaged structures.’
Trump a property developer who sees the world in terms of deals, has long talked up Gaza’s coastal location and pleasant climate as a perfect holiday vacation.
In his vision, U.S. reconstruction would create thousands of jobs and spare Palestinians the pain and expense of rebuilding once again.
When a reporter asked if that might involve military force, Trump answered: ‘If necessary.
And when asked who would live there, he answered: ‘I envision world people living there. The world’s people.
‘I think you’ll make that into an international, unbelievable place.’
Yet the proposal to move out Gaza Palestinian population will be seen as a call for ‘ethnic cleansing’ by opponents.
Netanyahu could not help but beam as the president outlined his latest proposal. And he praised Trump for his radical thinking, such as recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel during his first term.
‘You see things others refuse to see,’ he said. ‘You say things others refuse to say.
‘And after the jaws drop people scratch their heads and they say, you know, he’s right.’
More than 40,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched strikes in the wake of Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced.
‘I don’t think people should be going back,’ said Trump earlier as he welcomed Netanyahu to the Oval Office. “You can’t live in Gaza right now. I think we need another location.
‘I think it should be a location that’s going to make people happy.’
The comments will terrify Palestinians who have long feared that Israel was seeking to take their land.
They have lived under an economic blockade and more than a year of military bombardment, leaving the territory resembling a ‘demolition site,’ as Trump put it.
Netanyahu is visiting to plan for the next stage of talks with Hamas, negotiations which plan for three to five years of reconstruction.
American officials have already made clear that they see that timeline as unviable.
Against that backdrop, Trump upended the Middle East 10 days by floating the idea of moving the territory’s population to Egypt and Jordan, in answer to DailyMail.com question.
Both countries have rejected the idea.
But the former property developer, who sees the world in terms of deals, insisted that other nations would step up.
‘You look over the decades, it’s all death in Gaza,’ he said.
‘This has been happening for years. It’s all death.
‘If we can get a beautiful area to resettle people, permanently, in nice homes where they can be happy and not be shot and not be killed and not be knifed to death like what’s happening in Gaza.’
Earlier Trump’s national security adviser told reporters that Trump viewed the issue as a humanitarian one.
‘You have these people that are sitting with literally thousands of unexploded ordinance and piles of rubble,’ said Mike Waltz.
‘At some point, we have to look realistically, how do you rebuild Gaza? What does that look like? What is the timeline?
‘A lot of people were looking at very unrealistic timelines. We’re talking 10 to 15 years.’
It was all smiles between Trump and Netanyahu on Tuesday, but there has been tension in their relationship.
Trump complained during his first term that the Israeli leader let him down just before the US killed a top Iranian general in 2020, dropping out of the operation at the 11th hour.
And he was furious that Netanyahu congratulated President Joe Biden on winning the 2020 election.
But Netanyahu, who has lost support at home and who has been indicted at the International Criminal Court, badly needs Trump now to help shore up his position.
