Middle East Tensions Highlights: Trump Officials Attempt to Reverse Gaza Takeover Plan Amid global outrage, top administration officials attempted to soften aspects of President Trump’s proposal to drive Palestinians out of the area and assume control. Experts believe the scheme would violate international law.
On Wednesday, top Trump administration officials pulled back aspects of President Trump’s plan to “take over” Gaza and force out the Palestinian people, saying that he had not committed to using US soldiers to empty the territory and that any Palestinian transfer would be temporary.
Mr. Trump’s brazen proposal to remove up to two million Palestinians from Gaza and seize and redevelop it as a US territory was met with immediate opposition on Wednesday by key American partners and officials around the world, with many expressing support for a Palestinian state and experts calling the idea a violation of international law. Less than 24 hours after Mr. Trump proposed the plan, top administration officials worked to modify it.
In an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described President Trump’s bombshell proposal to take over Gaza and reconstruct it as “the first good idea” for the enclave he had heard.
Netanyahu said Trump had neither urged that American forces combat Hamas or that the US would pay to rebuild Gaza, citing talking points provided by Trump administration officials on Wednesday after the proposal was widely condemned.
When questioned by Hannity if all hell would have broken loose if the truce had not been negotiated in Gaza before Trump’s inauguration last month, Netanyahu said that “Donald Trump did, with great effect, mobilize his influence, which ultimately resulted in the hostages’ release.”
Here’s a look inside Trump’s hurriedly drafted proposal to ‘own’ Gaza.
When President Trump proclaimed on Tuesday that the US will control Gaza, even high-ranking members of his White House and government raised an eyebrow in surprise.
While his pronouncement sounded formal and researched — he read the idea from a sheet of paper — his administration had done little more than basic planning to assess the proposal’s plausibility, according to four people briefed on the negotiations but not authorized to speak publicly.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Trump family’s Middle East deals.
As President Trump promotes a new plan to seize control of Gaza and sweep out an area once home to an estimated two million people, he advocates for the United States to become far more involved in a territory where his family has a growing collection of real estate and business holdings.
There is no region in the world more crucial to the growth of several Trump family businesses than the Middle East, especially Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Israel. This is true when looking at the portfolios of both Mr. Trump and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Here is a recap of Mr. Trump’s proposals for Gaza and the family’s regional interests.
What Trump Proposed for Gaza
On Tuesday, Mr. Trump stated that the US should take control of Gaza and permanently deport the entire Palestinian population from the battered seashore territory.
Mr. Trump said that resettling Palestinians would be similar to his successful New York real estate projects. “If we could find the right piece of land, or numerous pieces of land, and build them some really nice places with plenty of money in the area, that’s for sure,” he told me. “I think that would be a lot better than going back to Gaza.
Mr. Trump went on to say, “Everyone 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.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated that “the president has not committed to putting boots on the ground in Gaza” as part of Mr. Trump’s retraction of some of his remarks on Wednesday.
