President Donald Trump revealed an extraordinary plan Tuesday for the United States to take over take over the Gaza Strip, resettle Palestinians in other countries – seemingly whether they wanted to leave or not – and turn the territory into “the Riviera of the Middle East”.
“The US will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too. We’ll own it,” Trump said in prepared remarks at the start of a joint press conference with visiting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the two leaders met in the Oval Office.
In a scheme that lacked details on how he would move out more than two million Palestinians or control Gaza, Trump said he would make the war-battered enclave “unbelievable” by removing unexploded bombs and rubble and economically redeveloping it.
There had been speculation that Trump would use his Tuesday meeting with Netanyahu to urge him to commit to carrying out the second phase of the ongoing Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal. The prime minister is under pressure from his far-right coalition partners to resume fighting at the conclusion of the first phase next month.
But Trump avoided publicly leaning on Netanyahu at all, instead praising his leadership and seemingly offering him a political lifeline by getting fully behind an idea — emptying Gaza — that has long been endorsed by the Israeli far right, and thereby giving ultranationalist lawmakers an incentive to keep the government intact.
He said there was support from the “highest leadership” in the Middle East and upped pressure on Egypt and Jordan to take displaced Gazans — despite both countries and the Palestinians flatly rejecting the surprise idea.
The proposal also seemed likely to swing focus away from the hostage talks, or at least shake them up.
Key US ally Netanyahu said Trump’s plan could “change history” and was worth “paying attention to.”
Irael and Hamas are set to begin negotiations this week on the terms of the second phase of the ceasefire in Gaza, which is supposed to see the release of the remaining living hostages in exchange for Israel permanently ending the war — something that would likely leave Hamas in power, falling short of Netanyahu’s pledge to fully dismantle the terror group’s military and governing capabilities.
To fulfill that pledge, Trump on Tuesday proposed that the US be the one to replace Hamas in Gaza, offering an alternative that Netanyahu could get behind after the premier repeatedly rejected the Palestinian Authority in that role — the preference of the Biden administration and Arab allies.
Whether Trump’s proposal is viable was another question, as was what it would mean for the 79 remaining hostages in Gaza, whom Hamas has sought to leverage as an insurance policy to remain in power.
Still reading from his prepared remarks, highlighting that this was not an off-the-cuff idea thrown around during his regular banter with reporters, Trump said he envisioned “long-term [US] ownership” of the Strip.
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“We will be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site, [for] get[ting] rid of the destroyed buildings, level[ing] it out, creat[ing] an economy development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing to the people of the area,” Trump said.
“[We’ve got to] do something different. You just can’t go back. If you go back, it’s going to end up the same way it has been for 100 years,” he said, adding that other leaders in the region backed his idea.
“It should not go through a process of rebuilding and occupation by the same people that have… lived there and died there and lived a miserable existence there,” Trump said of Gaza. He added that he planned to visit the enclave as well as Israel and Saudi Arabia, without saying when.
Trump insisted the Palestinians “have no alternative” but to leave the “big pile of rubble” that is Gaza after over 15 months of Israeli bombardments aimed at dismantling Hamas in response to the terror group’s October 7 onslaught.
The US president reiterated his belief that Palestinians should be removed from the “hellhole” of the Strip and placed in one or multiple other countries “with humanitarian hearts.”
Trump, since returning to office, has insisted that Egypt and Jordan volunteer to serve as hosts for the Gazans, but the two countries have adamantly rejected the idea, arguing that it would destabilize them and that the Palestinians should be allowed to remain on their land, just as Israelis are.
He said the “world’s people” would be the ones to live in Gaza once the US finishes rebuilding it, and that while the Palestinians could be among them, the enclave will become an “international” hub.
“Gaza is a hellhole right now. It was before the bombing started, frankly, and we’re going to give people a chance to live in a beautiful community that’s safe and secure,” he said.
“I don’t want to be cute, I don’t want to be a wise guy,” Trump said and then referred to Gaza as potentially “the Riviera of the Middle East. This could be something that could be so magnificent.”
It is not the first time the former property tycoon has spoken about the Palestinian territory in terms of real estate, saying in October it could be “better than Monaco.”
Netanyahu was making the first visit of a foreign leader to the White House since Trump’s return to power, for what was billed as talks on securing a second phase of the Israel-Hamas truce after an initial six-week ceasefire.
But it quickly turned into the shocking revelation of a plan that would completely transform the face of the Middle East.
Trump, who also floated travelling to Gaza, appeared to suggest it would not be rebuilt for Palestinians.
However, the Palestinian envoy to the UN had pushed back strongly at Trump’s suggestions earlier Tuesday – before his proposal the United States take the territory over – for his people to be resettled.
“Our homeland is our homeland,” said Riyad Mansour.
“And I think that leaders and people should respect the wishes of the Palestinian people.”
Gazans have also denounced Trump’s resettlement idea. “Trump thinks Gaza is a pile of garbage – absolutely not,” said 34-year-old Hatem Azzam, a resident of the southern city of Rafah.
Trump was vague on the details of how he would execute the takeover plan, but hinted that it could require US boots on the ground in one of the most volatile places on earth “if necessary.”
It is not the first time the former property tycoon has spoken about the Palestinian territory in terms of real estate, saying in October it could be “better than Monaco.”
Standing at a podium beside Trump, Netanyahu hailed Trump as Israel’s “greatest friend” and praised his “willingness to think outside the box.”
The two have had tense relations in the past, but Netanyahu has seized on the Republican’s return to power after his ties with former president Joe Biden became increasingly strained over the death toll in Gaza since Israel’s invasion.
Trump’s grand Gaza plan is set to face harsh opposition from Palestinians and Middle Eastern countries.
Egypt, Jordan and ceasefire mediator Qatar have all flatly rejected Trump’s suggestion of moving Palestinians from Gaza.
The war began when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, taking into Gaza 251 hostages, 76 of whom are still held in the Palestinian territory including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.