Trump proposed US takeover of Gaza, forced Palestinians to live in Jordan, Egypt

By Anjali Sharma

WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump met the Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday in the White House and proposed a new policy on Gaza which he said that the war torn enclave will be taken over by the US and a million Palestinians to go take a refuge in neighboring nations such as Jordan and Egypt.

The proposal received a widespread opposition and the huge cost of the project to settle scores of Palestinians would be new bedrock of Trump plans for the Middle East.

Trump’s plans to “take over” Gaza was over laden with sympathy for the “hell” in which people of Gaza live and with the slight nuance that some Palestinians might be allowed to return back to Gaza among “the world’s people.”

He did not get into how many Palestinians would accept the proposal of relocation, although both initial straw polling and history suggest very few would.

Donald Trump suggested that Egypt and Jordan take in more Palestinian refugees despite their outright rejection of such a plan boosted the idea that this is not a fanciful moment of whimsy, but something that might emerge from his podium again.

The forcible removal of people from a territory is a violation of international law, and possibly a war crime.

Many world leaders see the proposed Middle East plans similar to forced deportation of thousands of Ukrainian children from Ukraine formed part of the International Criminal Court’s indictment against Russian President Vladimir Putin barely two years ago.

Trump has spent his first weeks in office generated series of threats, orders, and suggestions at tearing up all precedent

He said that “everybody loves” his proposal for the US to take over the Gaza Strip, despite his shock announcement facing global condemnation.

“Everybody loves it,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday.

He refused to take questions as he was overseeing the swearing in of the new US attorney general, Pam Bondi.

Trump in a joint press conference with Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday claimed “everybody I’ve spoken to loves the idea of the United States owning that piece of land,” referring to the Gaza Strip.

He said the US will not pay for the rebuilding of Gaza, the White House said.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the Trump administration will “work with our partners in the region to reconstruct this region.”

She described Trump’s plan as an “out of the box idea”, added “That’s who President Trump is. That’s why the American people elected him.”

Karoline Leavitt said Donald Trump “has not committed to putting boots on the grounds in Gaza”

Trump in his joint press conference with Benjamin Netanyahu declined to rule out sending US troops to move Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip.

Leavitt said the White House can rule out sending American troops to Gaza,

Leavitt noted remarks from Trump yesterday that the “bonds of friendship and affection” between the US and Israeli people are “absolutely unbreakable”.

Trump is “committed to eliminated Hamas and securing a lasting peace for the entire region,” she said.

She described Trump as an “outside of the box thinker” and “visionary leader” who “solves problems that many others claim are unsolvable.”

The Republican leaders has backed President Donald Trump’s suggestion that the US “will take over” the Gaza Strip, possibly with the help of American troops.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune told on Wednesday that he thinks the president “wants a more peaceful and secured Middle East and put some ideas out there.”

Thune was asked about concerns from some Republicans that it would be too dangerous to send US troops into Gaza.

“My assumption is that ideas like that will be thoroughly examined and vetted to determine whether something like that would make sense,” he told reporters.

House Speaker Mike Johnson called the president’s remarks a “good development.”

“Yeah, we’re trying to get the details of it, but I think this is a good development. We have to back Israel 100% and so whatever form that takes, we’re interested in having that discussion, but it’s, it was a surprising development, but I think it’s one that we’ll applaud,” Johnson told reporters when asked if he supports the plan.

He also argued that US involvement could provide stability in the region.

“He’s taking bold, decisive action to try to ensure the peace of that region. It’s a bold move, certainly, far bolder than what’s been done before,” Johnson said at a House leadership news conference.

“Let’s withhold judgment on all of it. You’ll see more developments as they come.”

House Foreign Affairs Chairman Brian Mast defended Trump’s suggestions on Gaza, stated “the status quo hasn’t worked.”

Mast responded, “that’s not a guarantee; that’s something that is on the table, like everything.”

Danny Danon, the Israeli ambassador to the UN backed President Donald Trump’s plans for the United States to take control of Gaza, though he doesn’t believe Palestinians should be forcibly removed from the land.

“I think we all agree that it should require the consent of people to move out from where they live, and the consent for other countries to receive them,” Danon said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump in a joint press conference said the United States will “take over the Gaza Strip,” pledged to rebuild the war-torn land and relocate the 2 million Palestinians to neighboring countries.

Ambassador Danon said that Palestinians are “doomed to stay where they are” if other proposals don’t come forward, as Israel will not allow Hamas to hold power in Gaza.

“If Hamas will stay there, it’s only a matter of time that we will have to attack Gaza again,” he said.

Palestinian Authority Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Varsen Aghabekian Shaheen told news media that the “last thing” that Palestinians in Gaza want to hear is “anything on displacement.”

“These people have been displaced before. They have been made refugees in 1948, most of them. Most of them have been displaced within Gaza throughout the various wars that were undertaken by Israel on Gaza,” she said.

“If President Trump wants to create a Riviera then let it be with Palestinians in their homeland, in the land of their ancestors,” Aghabekian Shaheen said.

“We have tried refuge before. We have tried displacement before, and it will not happen again. We have said it over and over the Palestinian leadership, our president. People have made it very clear that we will not leave our land.”

Aghabekian Shaheen said that the Palestinian Authority was “very grateful” that a number of countries have spoken out against Trump’s comments on Gaza, including Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. She noted that “their stand with the Palestinian people has been made very clear.”

“If we stand together in the region as one voice, rejecting such moves, and if we are supported by Europe (and) the rest of the world, then maybe this will get to the ears of President Trump and we will see somehow a change of the tone,” she said.

The idea has been disparaged by the Arab world.

Saudi Arabian foreign ministry said it has warned the United States about Palestinians’ rights and restated that the proposal would put any future diplomatic relations with Israel at stake.

Other Arab countries, like Jordan and Egypt, have vehemently dismissed Trump’s previous pushes to relocate Gazans. And western allies, including the United Kingdom, have been critical of the idea.

Trump’s proposal dominated a discussion that was expected to focus on the negotiated cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, as Netanyahu has vowed to restart the war if it means destroying Hamas.

Republican senators expressed reservations Wednesday about President Donald Trump’s suggestion that the US could “take over” Gaza, potentially using American troops to do so.

Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota said that while the US has a leadership role in the Middle East, “Gaza’s not ours, Israel seems to have a pretty good handle on things.”

He said potentially sending US troops to the enclave doesn’t make sense because “Gaza is secured,” and while “it may have an uncertain future,” it is “really not our business right now.”

Sen. Cramer added that Republicans “appreciate his vision,” but “in terms of the occupying of Gaza, the only way we would ever, I think if at all, want to do that would be at their invitation.”

Dan Sullivan, a Republican member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he wants more details: “What is the plan? It’s quite vague. Is that aid? Is that troops? I mean, it’s a big issue.”

Sullivan said he thinks Trump is “certainly focused” and has a “good record of bringing peace in the region,” citing the Abraham Accords during Trump’s first administration.

“The details matter and that’s what I’ll be waiting for,” he said.

He repeated the sentiment when asked about the suggestion that US troops could occupy land in Gaza.

Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito said she thinks Trump is “expressing his deep concern and bond with Israel for peace and security” in proposing that the US could take over Gaza.

He added “it surprised us all, I’ll say that.”