United States President Donald Trump has said Israel will hand over Gaza to the US after Palestinians have been resettled elsewhere in the region, doubling down on his controversial resettlement plan after administration officials tried to walk back the most contentious aspects of the proposal.
A day after officials from his administration sought to clarify that any resettlement of Palestinians from Gaza would be temporary, Trump said on Thursday that the US would assume control of the enclave after Palestinians had been settled in “far safer and more beautiful” communities in the region.
“They would actually have a chance to be happy, safe, and free. The US, working with great development teams from all over the World, would slowly and carefully begin the construction of what would become one of the greatest and most spectacular developments of its kind on Earth,” Trump said on his platform, Truth Social.
“No soldiers by the US would be needed! Stability for the region would reign!!!”
Earlier on Thursday, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz announced that he had ordered the military to draw up a plan to allow Gaza residents to leave the enclave if they wish to do so.
Katz welcomed Trump’s “bold initiative” for Gaza, saying it could “create extensive opportunities for those in Gaza who wish to leave” and “support long-term reconstruction efforts in a demilitarized, threat-free Gaza after Hamas – an effort that will take many years”.
Trump’s bombshell announcement on Tuesday that the US would “take over” and “own” Gaza stunned Palestinians and the international community, prompting widespread condemnation and casting the talks to extend the fragile truce between Israel and Hamas into doubt.
“The US will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it, too. We’ll own it,” Trump said after talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday sought to walk back Trump’s suggestion that Palestinians in Gaza would be “permanently” resettled in neighbouring countries, saying the idea was for them to leave the territory during an “interim” period of reconstruction and debris-clearing.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also attempted to clarify Trump’s comments, saying the administration expected Egypt, Jordan and other countries in the region to accept Palestinians “temporarily so that we can rebuild their home”.
“It’s a demolition site right now. It’s not a livable place for any human being,” Leavitt said.
‘Tantamount to ethnic cleansing’
The United Nations has warned that “any forced displacement of people would be tantamount to ethnic cleansing”.
In a speech to a UN committee that deals with the rights of Palestinians, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday that “the exercise of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people is about the right of Palestinians to simply live as human beings in their own land”.
Trump’s proposals have been rejected by Hamas, the Palestinian group that governs Gaza, and numerous countries, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkiye, China, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Spain.
“Gaza is the Gaza of Palestinians, an integral part of the Palestinian territory, not a political bargaining chip, let alone the target of a law of the jungle,” Guo Jiakun, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on Thursday.
Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Jordan’s King Abdullah II said the plan “would be a serious violation of international law, an obstacle to the two-state solution and a major destabilising force” for their countries.
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said the kingdom rejected any attempts to remove Palestinians from their land in “a clear and explicit manner”.
Residents in Gaza have also rejected the idea that they could be forced out of their land.
Fathi Abu al-Saeed, a 72-year-old resident of Khan Younis, said he would remain right by his demolished home.
“You see that pile of useless rubble?” he told Al Jazeera in an interview, raising his cane to point at a demolished house. “That’s more precious than the United States and everything in it.”
More than 61,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s 15-month-long bombardment of the enclave, according to local health authorities.
Negotiations are under way to extend a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel that took effect on January 19, following a deal brokered by officials from the Trump administration and that of former US President Joe Biden.