LondonThe world has been shocked and incredulous by President Donald Trump’s shocking revelation that he intends to take over the Gaza Strip and expel 2.2 million Palestinians, at least temporarily. According to certain officials and analysts, this would amount to ethnic cleansing.
Many question if it’s really feasible in practice, speculating that it might be more of a diplomatic ploy or a diversionary tactic than a real policy strategy.
The purported plan to turn the war-torn Palestinian enclave on Israel’s western flank into the Middle East’s riviera has been denounced outside of far-right groups in both Israel and the US, regardless of its purpose or feasibility.
According to Fawaz Gerges, a seasoned Middle East specialist and professor at the London School of Economics, this is the most stupid proposal any American president has ever made in the country’s recent history. It defies all reasonable reasoning and the viability of any policy.
Senior officials and diplomats at a private gathering in Washington on Tuesday night expressed their dismay at the announcement. People were listening to Trump’s remarks on their phones in real time, and according to several reports, two high-profile Arab ambassadors left right away.
The idea of expelling the 2.2 million Palestinians in order to reconstruct Gaza caused broad outrage, according to several diplomats NBC News later spoke with in European and Asian countries.
The suggestion was questioned even by U.S. foreign policy expert and Trump buddy Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
He replied, “We’ll see what the Arab world has to say, but you know that would be problematic on many different levels.”
The idea of expelling Palestinians from their territories was swiftly and diplomatically rejected by key U.S. allies like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Jordan.
In a statement released Tuesday evening, the Saudi Foreign Ministry reaffirmed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s unwavering opposition to any violation of the Palestinian people’s fundamental rights. The annexation of Palestinian territory, Israeli settlement policy, and attempts to drive the Palestinian people from their country are all examples of this.
Trump has landed on a sliver of territory in Gaza that is as politically unreachable and emotionally fraught as it is small and destroyed, as evidenced by the quick and occasionally irate response to the idea. It is acknowledged by the majority of states worldwide as a component of a future Palestinian state. In addition, the United States has participated in six decades of peacemaking initiatives in favor of a two-state resolution to the conflict, even though it does not.