President Donald Trump vowed on Tuesday that the United States would take responsibility for rebuilding and stabilizing the Gaza Strip after Palestinians are relocated elsewhere, a move that could destroy decades of U.S. political engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
President Trump announced his surprise plan, without giving specific details, during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The announcement followed Mr Trump's shocking proposal earlier on Tuesday to permanently relocate Palestinians from Gaza to neighbouring countries, calling the Gaza Strip "a destroyed zone".
"The United States is going to take control of the Gaza Strip and we're going to do a great job there," President Trump said at the press conference. "We're going to take responsibility in that area and we're going to be responsible for dismantling all the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons there."
"If necessary, we will do this, we will take that part, we will develop it, we will create thousands of jobs and it will be something that the entire Middle East can be proud of," President Trump added.
Asked who would live there, President Trump said the Gaza Strip could become a home for "people of the world."
Earlier, US President Donald Trump proposed the permanent relocation of Palestinians from Gaza to neighboring countries, calling the Palestinian territory a "war-torn zone" while holding important talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
President Trump repeated his call for Jordan, Egypt and other Arab states to accept Gaza residents, saying Palestinians had no choice but to leave the coastal strip, which must be rebuilt after nearly 16 months of a devastating war between Israel and Hamas militants.
But this time President Trump said he would support the relocation of Palestinians "forever," going beyond his previous suggestions, which Arab leaders have already strongly opposed.
Just two weeks into his second term, President Trump hosted Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu at the White House to discuss the future of the fragile ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, strategy against Iran and hopes for a renewed push for an Israeli-Saudi normalization deal.
"If we could find a good piece of land and build some really nice settlements with a lot of money in that area, that would be a sure thing. I think it would be a much better alternative than going back to Gaza. I don't know how the Palestinians could want to stay," President Trump said when asked about the reaction of Palestinian and Arab leaders to his proposal.
In the presence of Prime Minister Netanyahu in the Oval Office, President Trump later made similar comments, but suggested that Palestinians leave Gaza permanently "to nice homes and where they can be happy, not being shot or killed."
President Trump's proposal echoed the wishes of Israel's far right and contradicts former President Joe Biden's commitment against the mass displacement of Palestinians.
Some human rights activists have criticized President Trump's proposal to relocate Palestinians, saying it amounts to ethnic cleansing.
Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri condemned President Trump's calls for the evacuation of Gaza residents, calling it "expulsion from their land."
"We consider them a recipe for producing chaos and tension in the region, because the people of Gaza will not allow such plans to pass," he said.
The meeting between the leaders of Israel and the United States, President Trump's first with a foreign leader since returning to office on January 20, was intended to emphasize the close ties between the president and Netanyahu after a period of tense relations between the Israeli prime minister and former President Biden over Israel's handling of the war in the Gaza Strip.
But Netanyahu could also face pressure from the sometimes unpredictable American president, whose broader Middle East policy goals may not always align with Mr. Netanyahu's domestic and geopolitical interests.
President Trump brokered agreements to normalize relations between Israel and four Arab states during his first term. Now he is aiming for a broader agreement that would establish relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
But Saudi Arabia has said it would agree to such a deal if the war in Gaza ends and if there is a sustainable path to the creation of a Palestinian state in Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories that Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war.
The United States supports the creation of a Palestinian state, but Prime Minister Netanyahu's government opposes it.
Hamas, which is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, has released 18 hostages so far, while Israel has released hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
The Gaza War began with Hamas militants attacking Israel on October 7, 2023, during which they killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostages.
Israel's counteroffensive during 15 months of fighting has killed 47,500 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children. The Israeli military says this figure includes 17,000 militants killed. (A2 Televizion)
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