‘Gaza Strip a symbol of death, destruction’

 

 

 

IN A surprising announcement, President Donald Trump said the US “will take over” the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, “own it” and undertake economic development there that will create “unlimited numbers of jobs and housing”. Trump made these remarks on Tuesday during a joint press conference in the White House with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu standing beside him. Trump also suggested that the US develop the land but gave no details on who would be allowed to live there. He also said that all Palestinians currently living in Gaza — around 2 million people — should leave and be placed in other countries in the Middle East. “The US will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too.

 

We’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site, level the site, and get rid of the destroyed buildings,” Trump said. “Create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area, do a real job, do something different,” he said. “The only reason the Palestinians want to go back to Gaza is they have no alternative. It’s right now a demolition site. This is just a demolition site. Virtually every building is down. They’re living under fallen concrete that’s very dangerous and very precarious. They instead can occupy all of a beautiful area with homes and safety, and they can live out their lives in peace and harmony, instead of having to go back and do it again,” Trump said. Asked about the possibility of sending US troops to Gaza, Trump said the US would “do what is necessary” as he laid out plans for the US to take the area over, and suggested he would visit the territory. Calling the Gaza Strip a “symbol of death and destruction”

 

 

 

 

PRESIDENT Donald Trump’s proposal that the United States “take over” the Gaza Strip and permanently resettle its Palestinian residents was swiftly rejected and denounced by American allies and adversaries alike. Egypt, Jordan and other American allies in the Middle East have already rejected the idea of relocating more than 2 million Palestinians from Gaza elsewhere in the region. Following Trump’s remarks, Egypt’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement stressing the need for rebuilding “without moving the Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip.” Saudi Arabia, an important American ally, weighed in quickly on Trump’s expanded idea to take over the Gaza Strip in a sharply worded statement, noting that its long call for an independent Palestinian state was a “firm, steadfast and unwavering position.” “The kingdom of Saudi Arabia also stresses what it had previously announced regarding its absolute rejection of infringement on the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, whether through Israeli settlement policies, annexation of Palestinian lands or efforts to displace the Palestinian people from their land,” the statement said. Similarly, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters in Canberra, Australia, that his country has long supported a two-state solution in the Middle East and that nothing had changed. “Australia’s position is the same as it was this morning, as it was last year, as it was 10 years ago,” he said. Trump has already made waves — and upset longtime allies — suggesting the purchase of Greenland, the annexation of Canada and the possible takeover of the Panama Canal. It was not immediately clear whether the idea of taking over the Gaza Strip was a well thought out plan, or an opening gambit in negotiations. Albanese, whose country is one of the strongest American allies in the Asia-Pacific region, seemed frustrated to even be asked about the Gaza plan, underscoring that his policies “will be consistent.” “I’m not going to, as Australia’s prime minister, give a daily commentary on statements by the US president,” he said. “My job is to support Australia’s position.” New Zealand’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that its “long-standing support for a two-state solution is on the record” and added that it, too, “won’t be commenting on every proposal that is put forward.” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian also underscored Beijing’s longstanding support for a two-state solution. “We oppose the forced relocation of people in Gaza and hope that the relevant parties will take the ceasefire and post-war governance in Gaza as an opportunity to push the Palestinian issue back on the right track,” he said. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told state-run Anadolu Agency that Trump’s proposal on “deportations from Gaza is not something that either the region or we would accept.” “Even thinking about it, in my opinion, is wrong and absurd,” Fidan said. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called for the United Nations to “protect the Palestinian people and their inalienable rights,” saying that what Trump wanted to do would be “a serious violation of international law.” Hamas, which sparked the war with its October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, said Trump’s proposal was a “recipe for creating chaos and tension in the region.” “Instead of holding the Zionist occupation accountable for the crime of genocide and displacement, it is being rewarded, not punished,” the militant group said in a statement. In its attack on Israel, Hamas killed some 1,200 people, primarily civilians, and took about 250 hostages. In the US, Opposition politicians quickly rejected Trump’s idea, with Democratic Senator Chris Coons calling his comments “offensive and insane and dangerous and foolish.” The idea “risks the rest of the world thinking that we are an unbalanced and unreliable partner because our president makes insane proposals,” Coons said, noting the irony of the proposal coming shortly after Trump had moved to dismantle the US Agency for International Development. “Why on earth would we abandon decades of well-established humanitarian programmes around the world, and now launch into one of the world’s greatest humanitarian challenges?” Coons said. Democratic Republican Rashida Tlaib, a Palestinian American member of Congress from Michigan, accused Trump in a social media post of “openly calling for ethnic cleansing” with the idea of resettling Gaza’s entire population.