
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Israel would turn over Gaza to the United States after the conflict ended and its population had been resettled elsewhere, eliminating the need for U.S. troops on the ground.
A day after worldwide condemnation of Trumpโs announcement that he aimed to take over and develop the Gaza Strip into the โRiviera of the Middle Eastโ, Israel ordered its army to prepare to allow the โvoluntary departureโ of Gaza Palestinians.
Trump, who had previously declined to rule out deploying U.S. troops to the small coastal territory, clarified his idea in comments on his Truth Social web platform.
Gaza Hand Over
โThe Gaza Strip would be turned over to the United States by Israel at the conclusion of fighting,โ he said. Palestinians โwould have already been resettled in far safer and more beautiful communities, with new and modern homes, in the region.โ He added: โNo soldiers by the U.S. would be needed!โ
Earlier, amid a tide of support in Israel for what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Trumpโs โremarkableโ proposal, Defence Minister Israel Katz said he had ordered the army to prepare a plan to allow Gaza residents who wished to leave to exit the enclave voluntarily.
โI welcome President Trumpโs bold plan. Gaza residents should be allowed the freedom to leave and emigrate, as is the norm around the world,โ Katz said on X.
He said his plan would include exit options via land crossings, as well as special arrangements for departure by sea and air.
Trump Shocker
Trump, a real-estate-developer-turned-politician, sparked anger around the Middle East with his unexpected announcement on Tuesday, just as Israel and Hamas were expected to begin talks in Doha on the second stage of a ceasefire deal for Gaza, intended to open the way for a full withdrawal of Israeli forces, a further release of hostages and an end to a nearly 16-month-old war.
Regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia rebuffed the proposal outright and Jordanโs King Abdullah, who will meet Trump at the White House next week, said on Wednesday he rejected any attempts to annex land and displace Palestinians.
Egypt also weighed in, saying it would not be part of any proposal to displace Palestinians from neighbouring Gaza, where residents reacted with fury to the suggestion.
โWe will not sell our land for you, real estate developer. We are hungry, homeless, and desperate but we are not collaborators,โ said Abdel Ghani, a father of four living with his family in the ruins of their Gaza City home. โIf (Trump) wants to help, let him come and rebuild for us here.โ
Proposalโs Future Unclear
It was unclear whether Trump would go ahead with his proposal or, in keeping with his self-image as a shrewd dealmaker, has simply laid out an extreme position as a bargaining tactic. His first term in 2017-21 was replete with what critics said were over-the-top foreign policy pronouncements, many of which were never implemented.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Thursday that people would have to live elsewhere while Gaza was rebuilt. He did not say whether they would be able to return under Trumpโs plan to develop the enclave, home to more than 2 million Palestinians.
Axios reported Rubio planned to visit the Middle East in mid-February with an itinerary that includes Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
Displacement
What effect Trumpโs shock proposal may have on the ceasefire talks remains unclear. Only 13 of a group of 33 Israeli hostages due for release in the first phase have so far been returned, with three more due to come out on Saturday. Five Thai hostages have also been released.
Hamas official Basem Naim accused Israelโs defence minister of trying to cover up โfor a state that has failed to achieve any of its objectives in the war on Gazaโ, and said Palestinians are too attached to their land to ever leave.
Displacement of Palestinians has been one of the most sensitive issues in the Middle East for decades. Forced or coerced displacement of a population under military occupation is a war crime, banned under the 1949 Geneva Conventions.
Voluntary Departures
Details of how any such plan might work have been vague. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said different thinking was needed on Gazaโs future but that any departures would have to be voluntary and states would have to be willing to take them.
โWe donโt have details yet, but we can talk about principles,โ Saar told a press conference with his Italian counterpart Antonio Tajani. โEverything must be based on the free will of (the) individual and, on the other hand, of a will of a state that is ready to absorb,โ he said.
(With inputs from Reuters)