Proposed permanent displacement of Palestinians.. Trump: America will control and own Gaza

US President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday evening, Washington time, his country's intention to seize the Gaza Strip, shortly after he proposed permanently resettling the Strip's residents in other countries.

Trump's statement came during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, following bilateral talks at the White House.

There was no immediate comment from the Palestinian side regarding these unprecedented statements by the US President.

Trump said: “The United States will take control of Gaza, and we will do a mission there as well.”

He added: “We will launch an economic development plan (in the sector) that aims to provide an unlimited number of jobs and housing for the residents of the area.”

Trump claimed that Gaza “could become the Riviera of the Middle East after his country takes control of it and develops it.”

Trump did not rule out the possibility of deploying US forces to support the reconstruction of Gaza, expecting the United States to have “long-term ownership” of the Strip.

#Trump : The only reason the people of #Gaza want to return is because they have no alternative pic.twitter.com/wpyEapJKQP

— Al Arabiya TV (@AlarabyTV) February 5, 2025

Trump and Netanyahu

Regarding the details of his meeting with Netanyahu, Trump said: “We had a beautiful conversation.” He added: “My meeting with Netanyahu focused on the future, how to eliminate Hamas, and restore peace.”

Trump stressed that US-Israeli relations would be “stronger than ever” under his administration.

The US President also revealed in his statements that his administration “will issue a decision soon” regarding whether or not the United States will recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the West Bank.

In another context, Trump expressed his belief that many countries will join the “Abraham Accords” to normalize relations with Israel “very soon.”

In a short press conference before the talks with Netanyahu, Trump renewed his support for the plan to “permanently” displace Gaza Palestinians to other countries.

“I don’t think people should go back,” Trump said. “You can’t live in Gaza right now. I think we need another location. I think it should be a location that makes people happy.”

“When you look at the past decades, all you see in Gaza is death. This has been happening for years,” he added.

“What if we could find a nice area to resettle people permanently in good homes, where they can be happy, and not be shot or killed like they are in Gaza,” he continued, promoting his plan.

Trump pointed out that Egypt and Jordan informed Washington that they were not prepared to receive residents from Gaza, but he claimed that other countries had expressed their willingness to receive them.

In this context, he said: “Many leaders of countries have contacted us and expressed their desire to shelter residents from Gaza.”

Trump pledged to visit Gaza, telling reporters at the White House: “I love Israel. I will visit Israel, I will visit Gaza, I will visit Saudi Arabia, I will visit other places throughout the Middle East,” without announcing a timetable.

There is no alternative to displacement

Earlier, Trump said on Tuesday that the Palestinians have no alternative but to leave the Gaza Strip. He added that he wants Egypt and Jordan to receive displaced Palestinians from Gaza.

Trump claimed that the Palestinians would “very much” leave the besieged Gaza Strip to live elsewhere if given the chance, adding, “I think they would be very happy” to do so.

"I don't know how they want to survive. It's a demolition site," he said, more than 15 months after US ally Israel launched a devastating war in the territory.

The US president had previously spoken of a plan to “clean up” Gaza, calling for the Palestinians to be transferred to Egypt and Jordan.

The two countries categorically rejected this, and their leaders confirmed on Tuesday “adopting the unified Arab position calling for achieving permanent peace in the Middle East region,” according to the Egyptian presidency.

"Well, they may have said that, but a lot of people have said things to me," Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday.

“If we can find the right piece of land, or several pieces of land, and build some nice housing on it, there is definitely a lot of money in the area, and I think that would be much better than going back to Gaza, which has seen nothing but decades of death,” he said.

When a reporter asked him about possible locations for such housing, he replied that it might be in Jordan, Egypt or “other places. There might be more than two.”

“People could have lived in a beautiful, safe, very nice place,” he continued. “But Gaza has been a disaster for decades.”

Asked further whether the United States would pay for such a move, he said there were “a lot of people in the region who would do it, and they have a lot of money,” and cited Saudi Arabia as an example.

"They have no alternative now," he added when asked by an AFP journalist whether such a move would lead to the forced displacement of Palestinians.

“They’re there because they don’t have any alternative,” Trump added. “What do they have? It’s a huge pile of rubble now… I think they’ll be very happy to do that.”

“I think they would very much like to leave Gaza,” he continued, asking, “What is Gaza?” He said he “does not necessarily support” Israelis settling the territory in place of Palestinians.

“I’m all for cleaning it up and turning it into something,” he added. “But that’s been a failure for decades. And someone will be sitting here 10 or 20 years from now and they’ll be facing the same thing.”

Palestinians refuse

The Palestinians reject Trump's idea of displacing them from the Strip, stressing that they will remain on their land even if the reconstruction process of the Strip, which was destroyed by the war, is delayed.

As soon as the ceasefire agreement went into effect in Gaza, hundreds of thousands of displaced people from the southern and central areas of the Strip began returning to their destroyed areas.

According to government media in the Strip, those returning to their homes in the northern Gaza Strip need 135,000 tents and caravans, which Israel had not allowed to enter until Monday.

Hamas says that the humanitarian protocol in the ceasefire agreement stipulates the entry of 200,000 tents and 60,000 caravans into the Strip during the first phase, which lasts six weeks.

Upon his return to the White House, Trump proposed “cleaning up” Gaza and moving the Palestinians to “safer” places such as Egypt or Jordan, sparking international protests.

Trump announced yesterday, Monday, that there are “no guarantees” that the ceasefire in effect in the Strip will remain in place.

(Agencies)