The PresidentAfter claiming that Palestinians have no choice but to flee their homes in the war-torn Gaza Strip, Donald Trump declared during a White House news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday that the United States would assume control of the region.
Trump declared, “We’ll own it,” on Gaza. He stated that a long-term ownership position by the United States would greatly stabilize the Middle East. “We’re going to take over that piece, develop it and create thousands and thousands of jobs, and it will be something the entire Middle East can be proud of,” he added.
Trump responded, “I envision the world people living there, the world’s people,” when asked who would reside there. You’ll turn that into an amazing place on a global scale. I believe the Gaza Strip has incredible potential and has the potential to become the Middle East’s riviera.
There, Palestinians will reside. There will be a large population there, he continued.
Questions concerning the legitimacy of effectively occupying a sovereign territory were not addressed by the president.
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Trump sees a different future for Gaza, and Netanyahu stated that one of his objectives is to ensure that the territory never threatens Israel again.
Regarding Trump’s proposal for the Gaza Strip, Netanyahu stated, “We’re talking about it.” It is worthwhile to pursue this path because, in my opinion, it has the potential to alter history.
Trump frequently referred to Gaza as a “demolition site” during Netanyahu’s visit and stated that the Palestinians residing there ought to be moved, saying they would be happy to live somewhere else and are only remaining because they have “no alternative.”
Regarding Gaza, which has been destroyed by the Israel-Hamas conflict, Trump declared, “The whole thing is a mess,”
“I don’t believe that anyone should return to Gaza. Gaza has, in my opinion, been quite unlucky for them. They have lived as though they were in hell, just as you are. There is no place for people to live in Gaza. They have no other option, which is the only reason they wish to return, in my opinion. What other options are there? Where do you go? They would far prefer live in a lovely, safe alternative than return to Gaza if they had one,” he said.
According to Trump, the roughly 1.8 million Palestinians should be relocated to one or more other locations in neighboring Arab nations, like Egypt or Jordan, so they can “live in peace.”
Regarding Egypt and Jordan, Trump remarked, “They say they’re not going to accept.” “I say they will, but I think other countries will accept also.”
According to Trump, the Palestinians’ relocation “would be a lot better than going back to Gaza, which has had decades and decades of death.”
“They’ll be resettled in areas where they can live a beautiful life,” he stated.
When asked if it would entail evicting people by force, Trump responded, “I don’t think so.”
Trump’s comments were denounced by Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri, who said, “We consider it a recipe for creating chaos and tension in the region.”
“Our people in the Gaza Strip will not allow these plans to pass,” he stated, adding that what is needed is to stop the violence and occupation of our people rather than to force them off their land.
Trump has not met a foreign leader since the beginning of his second term until he met with Netanyahu.
Trump described the White House gathering as a “very big meeting” during his remarks to reporters on Sunday. He said, “I look forward to discussing how we can bring peace to Israel and its neighbors and efforts to counter our shared adversaries,” in his letter inviting Netanyahu to Washington last week.
Netanyahu said on Sunday that they would talk about “the critical issues that lie ahead of us defeating Hamas, returning all our hostages and dealing with the Iranian axis in all its components, an axis that also threatens Israel s security, the Middle East and the entire world.”
The Biden administration secured a ceasefire and hostage-release arrangement between Israel and Hamas with the assistance of Trump’s transition team. Tuesday was supposed to be a discussion about the next stage of the accord.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched a terrorist attack on Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage. This marked the start of the battle. According to local officials, Israel killed about 47,000 people in its retaliatory air and land attack on Gaza, the majority of whom were civilians. The number of displaced Palestinians is in the hundreds of thousands.
Netanyahu has defended his actions, most notably while traveling to Washington, despite widespread condemnation of the Israeli counteroffensive’s magnitude.
“The Middle East has already altered as a result of the choices we took during the conflict and the valor displayed by the IDF soldiers. It has been completely altered by them. “I believe we can make even more positive changes if we work hard with President Trump,” he said.
In an attempt to rid Gaza of Palestinian refugees, Trump had stated prior to the meeting that he wanted Jordan and Egypt to take in more of them.
Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, told reporters ahead of Tuesday’s bilateral meeting that Trump was talking about making the region “habitable.” Additionally, he called the five-year plan to rehabilitate Gaza in a later phase of the ceasefire agreement “preposterous” and unachievable. Reconstruction might take up to 15 years, according to national security adviser Mike Waltz.
“There are 30,000 unexploded munitions in Gaza,” Witkoff stated. The buildings have the potential to collapse at any time. There are absolutely no utilities available there, including gas, electricity, and running water. Who knows what kind of illness could be brewing there?
Trump and Netanyahu were close allies during Trump’s first term, but after Netanyahu congratulated Joe Biden on winning the 2020 election while Trump was still contesting the results, their relationship soured.
Trump told a gathering at a campaign event a few days after the Oct. 7 incident that Netanyahu had failed us during his first term, claiming that he had not been helpful prior to the US killing a senior Iranian general. Following backlash from his Republican opponents, Trump used Netanyahu’s nickname to post on social media with the hashtags #IStandWithIsrael and #IStandWithBibi.
When Netanyahu paid Trump a visit at his Florida home in July following meetings with Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris and following an unsuccessful attempt on Trump’s life, their relationship seemed to have been restored.
Netanyahu stated on Sunday that the “fact that this will be [Trump’s] first meeting with a foreign leader since his inauguration has great significance for the state of Israel” as it “testifies to the strength of the alliance between Israel and the United States.”
When asked Tuesday how he and Netanyahu are getting along today after all the ups and downs, Trump replied, “Mostly ups.”
Netanyahu’s visit to the White House is by no means his first.
Blair House, the White House’s historic official guest residence, welcomed Netanyahu on Monday. According to the director of the residence, Netanyahu has visited the mansion 14 times, which is far more than any other foreign leader has done since it was constructed in the 19th century.