U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday said that Israel would turn the Gaza Strip over to the United States after the war with Hamas ends and that no U.S. soldiers would be needed there.
Trump, who has called for U.S. ownership of the narrow territory along the Mediterranean Sea, issued the statement on Truth Social. Under his plan, he said, more than 2 million Palestinians now inhabiting the war-ravaged land “would have already been resettled in far safer and more beautiful communities, with new and modern homes, in the region.”
He did not say whether he meant in Gaza or other countries that, as yet, have not agreed to accept them.
“They would actually have a chance to be happy, safe, and free,” the U.S. leader wrote.
Meanwhile, Hamas on Thursday called on all Palestinian factions to unite against Trump’s proposed Gaza takeover.
Trump earlier this week said he could envision sending U.S. troops to Gaza to ease the American takeover but said in his new posting that with the Israeli handover of the land, “No soldiers by the U.S. would be needed! Stability for the region would reign!!!”
Trump’s surprise Gaza takeover plan, announced earlier this week alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a White House news conference, has been widely assailed by U.S. allies and adversaries alike, many of which remain committed to creation of an independent Palestinian state coexisting alongside Israel. The two-state solution is also a long-held U.S. stance but one that Netanyahu opposes.
Gaza has been decimated by the ravages of more than 15 months of Israeli-Hamas fighting.
But in his new comments, Trump said, “The U.S., 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.”
On Tuesday, Trump said a newly redeveloped Gaza would become the “Riviera of the Middle East.”
Israeli leaders welcome ‘bold plan’
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Thursday he has instructed the country’s army to prepare plans for large numbers of Palestinians to leave the Gaza Strip via land crossings as well as sea and air routes, although it was unclear what countries might accept them.
Katz welcomed what he characterized as Trump’s “bold plan” for Gaza residents to leave the territory, which has been devastated by Israeli ground and air attacks targeting Hamas militants.
Netanyahu told Fox News late Wednesday that Palestinians could leave Gaza while it is rebuilt and then return.
Netanyahu described the Trump plan as “a remarkable idea, and I think it should be really pursued, examined, pursued and done, because I think it will create a different future for everyone.”
Guterres: Don’t make problem worse
Trump’s proposal has met widespread criticism, including from U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who said, “In the search for solutions, we must not make the problem worse” by moving Palestinians out of Gaza. “It is vital to stay true to the bedrock of international law. It is essential to avoid any form of ethnic cleansing.”
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Wednesday that Trump’s proposals “generate deep concern in some people, even horror,” and would be “unacceptable under international law.”
The 22-member Arab League said Trump’s plan “represents a recipe for instability” and would not advance the prospects of Palestinian statehood.
“They must be allowed home,” British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Wednesday.
“They must be allowed to rebuild, and we should be with them in that rebuild, on the way to a two-state solution.”
Following Trump’s Gaza ownership suggestion, Australia, China, Germany, Ireland, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Spain said that they continue to support a two-state solution.
