KEY POINTS
- Despite global condemnation, Trump reiterates his proposal for the US to take over Gaza.
- He claims Israel would hand Gaza to the US without American troop involvement.
- Trump’s plan includes relocating Gazans to neighbouring countries.
- The UN and experts warn that forced relocation violates international law.
- Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the UK firmly reject Trump’s proposal.
- Spain reaffirms that Gaza must remain part of a future Palestinian state.
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Thursday doubled down on his proposal for the US to take over the Gaza Strip, despite a global backlash, claiming that Israel will hand it over to Washington once the war in the devastated Palestinian territory is over – and without the need for American troops to be involved.
Arab nations across the Middle East, Palestinians inside Gaza and nations across Europe and Asia moved swiftly to condemn Trump’s suggestion earlier this week that the US “will take over the Gaza Strip” with a “long-term ownership position” – estimating that about 1.8 million of the near-2.3 million Palestinians living in Gaza would have to be relocated to neighbouring nations.
Several nations have made clear that the forced relocation of Palestinians would violate international law. Trump’s proposal to “take over” Gaza and empty the war-ravaged Palestinian territory of its people would be blatantly illegal under international law, the UN and experts warn.
However, in a post on his Truth Social platform on Thursday, the US president said: “The Gaza Strip would be turned over to the United States by Israel at the conclusion of fighting.”
He added that Palestinians would be “resettled in far safer and more beautiful communities, with new and modern homes, in the region”.
He said that the US would work “with great development teams from all over the world” and “slowly and carefully begin the construction of what would become one of the greatest and most spectacular developments of its kind on Earth”.
In his initial remarks on Tuesday, Trump had left the door open to using US forces. But with some US politicians expressing trepidation about such a move, the US president said in his latest post that “no soldiers by the US would be needed”.
The White House insisted on Wednesday night that the resettling of the Gazan population would only be temporary. Jordan had earlier reiterated its rejection of displacement of Palestinians, stating they should not be expelled from Gaza.
Saudi Arabia also rejected Trump’s proposal outright and reiterated support for an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. “The establishment of the Palestinian state is a firm, unwavering position,” the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a lengthy statement on X on Wednesday.
Trump’s proposal comes two weeks after the start of a fragile ceasefire in Gaza, during which Hamas has released Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
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On October 7, 2023, Israel launched a relentless bombardment campaign killing more than 47,500 Palestinians, mostly women and children, in Gaza, according to the territory’s health ministry. Israel had launched the campaign in response to Hamas’s cross-border attack on Israel.
Almost 70 percent of Gaza buildings are estimated to be damaged or destroyed according to the UN, while healthcare, water, sanitation and hygiene systems have been destroyed. There are widespread shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter, particularly in the north.
Shortly before Trump doubled down on his Gaza proposal, UK Foreign Office minister Anneliese Dodds told the House of Commons the UK “would oppose any effort to move Palestinians in Gaza to neighbouring Arab states against their will”.
Dodds said “Palestinians must determine the future of Gaza” and the UK government considers the enclave an “integral part” of a future Palestinian state “with Palestinians living next to Israelis in peace and security” as part of a two-state solution to decades of conflict.
Spanish foreign minister Jose Manuel Albares swiftly rejected Trump’s proposal, saying: “Gazans’ land is Gaza and Gaza must be part of the future Palestinian state.”
