U.S. President Donald Trump said that the United States will “take over” and rebuild the Gaza Strip during a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday.
“The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it, too,” Trump said. “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 in the explosive press conference, which ran about 40 minutes, that the reconstruction of Gaza would create economic development and supply “unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area.”
The U.S. takeover of Gaza could involve the deployment of American troops, according to Trump. “We’ll do what is necessary,” he said. “If it’s necessary, we’ll do that.”
Trump said the United States would take a “long-term ownership position” of the land.
“This was not a decision made lightly,” he said. “Everybody I’ve spoken to loves the idea of the United States owning that piece of land, developing and creating thousands of jobs with something that will be magnificent in a really magnificent area that nobody would know.”
The president repeated his plan for Palestinians to be relocated outside of Gaza to regional countries during the rebuilding of Gaza.
“It could be numerous sites or it could be one large site, but the people will be able to live in comfort and peace,” Trump said. “We’ll make sure something really spectacular is done.”
‘This is for everybody’
Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and the Palestinian Authority wrote to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday to reject the idea of resettling Palestinians outside of Gaza. But Trump said on Tuesday that “neighboring countries of great wealth” could pay for the relocation of Gazans.
Trump suggested that under U.S. ownership and development, Palestinians could return to Gaza but that it would become an international zone.
“This is not for Israel,” Trump said. “This is for everybody in the Middle East—Arabs, Muslims, this is for everybody.”
“I think you’ll make that into an international, unbelievable place,” Trump said. “Palestinians will live there. Many people will live there.”
Elements of what Trump described were redolent of the so-called “Trump Mideast peace plan” that he unveiled in 2020, which included developing Gaza’s waterfront into a tourism destination.
“I don’t want to be cute. I don’t want to be a wise guy, but the Riviera of the Middle East,” the hotel magnate and president said Tuesday. “This could be so magnificent.”
Trump said that his Gaza development plan did not rule out a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“It doesn’t mean anything about a two-state or one-state or any other state,” Trump said. “It means that we want to give people a chance at life. They have never had a chance at life because the Gaza Strip has been a hell hole.”
He added that he intends to visit the enclave, which Hamas has controlled, as part of a regional tour.
“I’ll visit Gaza,” he said. “I’ll visit Saudi Arabia, and I’ll visit other places all over the Middle East. The Middle East is an incredible place.”
Netanyahu said that he believes that Trump’s vision is in line with his war goal of ensuring that Gaza can never pose a threat to Israel again.
“President Trump is taking it to a much higher level,” Netanyahu said. “I think it’s worth paying attention to this. We’re talking about it. He’s exploring it with his people, with his staff. I think it’s something that could change history, and it’s worthwhile, really pursuing this avenue.”
Trump said that he had not yet made a decision about the United States recognizing Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria, but that there will “probably” be a decision on the question “over the next four weeks.”
Netanyahu called Trump the “greatest friend Israel has ever had in the White House.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, all this in just two weeks,” Netanyahu said of Trump’s executive actions since the start of his second term. “Can we imagine where we’ll be in four years? I can.”
