In a move that would upend decades of US policy toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, President Donald Trump declared that the US would occupy the war-torn Gaza Strip and economically develop it if Palestinians are relocated elsewhere.
During a joint press conference with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, Trump revealed his unexpected proposal without giving any details.
Trump called the enclave, where the first phase of a precarious Israel-Hamas ceasefire and hostage release agreement is in effect, a “demolition site” and made the shocking proposal earlier Tuesday to permanently relocate the more than two million Palestinians from Gaza to neighboring countries.
Trump’s suggestion calls into doubt whether Saudi Arabia, a major player in the Middle East, would be open to joining a renewed US-brokered push for a historic normalization of relations, and he can anticipate that both allies and enemies will fiercely oppose any US occupation of Gaza.
The United States’ active involvement in Gaza would be in opposition to Washington’s long-standing policy and the belief of a large portion of the international community that Gaza will be a part of a future Palestinian state that also includes the occupied West Bank.
” “It will belong to us, and we will be in charge of removing all of the hazardous unexploded bombs and other weapons from the location.”
“We will develop it, generate thousands and thousands of jobs, and it will be something of which the Middle East as a whole can be extremely proud,” Trump declared.
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