Palestinians should relocate to a ‘beautiful’ place – Trump
President Donald Trump, during a meeting with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, proposed the permanent resettlement of Palestinians from Gaza Read Full Article at RT.com
Feb 5, 2025 - 02:15
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The US president has doubled down on his Gaza resettlement idea during a meeting with the Israeli PM
President Donald Trump, during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Tuesday, proposed the permanent resettlement of Palestinians from Gaza to neighboring countries, describing the area as a “demolition site” unfit for habitation.
The meeting took place amid a fragile six-week ceasefire in Gaza, following 15 months of conflict between Israel and Hamas. According to the UN, around 1.9 million people – more than 90% of Gaza’s population – have been displaced since the war broke out in October 2023.
“You can’t live in Gaza right now, and I think we need another location. I think it should be a location that’s going to make people happy,” Trump said at his joint press conference with Netanyahu. “If we can get a beautiful area to resettle people permanently in nice homes, where they can be happy and not be shot, not be killed, not be knifed to death like what’s happening in Gaza.”
Approximately 92% of homes in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed or severely damaged, according to the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Trump, a former real estate mogul, has repeatedly referred to Gaza as a “demolition site” in recent weeks.
“I mean, there’s hardly a building standing, and the ones that are are going to collapse,” Trump said, also warning of “a very dangerous situation in terms of explosives all over the place.”
Trump suggested that nations such as Jordan and Egypt should host displaced Palestinians, despite these countries previously explicitly rejecting such “direct expulsion or coerced migration.” These actions would “threaten the region’s stability, risk expanding the conflict, and undermine prospects for peace and coexistence among its peoples,” said a joint statement by Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, the Palestinian Authority, and the Arab League on Saturday.
Netanyahu did not comment on Trump’s proposal but expressed gratitude for the US president’s involvement in the Gaza ceasefire, acknowledging his “great force and powerful leadership” in facilitating the agreement. He also outlined Israel’s objectives moving forward: securing the release of all hostages, destroying Hamas’s military and governing capabilities, and ensuring that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel.
Around 47,500 Palestinians have been killed and over 111,500 wounded during the 15 months of Israeli attacks on Gaza, according to the latest data from the enclave’s Health Ministry. Although the sides agreed to a ceasefire on January 15, Israel has since accused Hamas of violating a prisoner swap arrangement and halted the return of Gazans to their home in the northern part of the enclave. Both sides have also accused each other of ceasefire violations.
The Palestinian ambassador to the UN, Riyad Mansour, rejected Trump’s proposal, stating that Palestinians “want to rebuild Gaza because this is where we belong.”
“For those who want to send the Palestinian people to a ‘nice place,’ allow them to go back to their original homes in what is now Israel,” Mansour said.
Hamas officials also condemned Trump’s suggestion, calling it “a recipe for creating chaos and tension in the region” and vowing to resist any displacement efforts. “Our people in the Gaza Strip will not allow these plans to pass. What is required is an end to the occupation and aggression against our people, not their expulsion from their land,” Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said.
