US President Donald Trump revised his vision for the US to take over Gaza after officials in his administration appeared to contradict his previous comments.
“The Gaza Strip will be handed over to the US by Israel at the end of the battle,” Trump said Thursday. He reiterated that the idea would mean resetting the Palestinians, and said that there would be no need for US soldiers.
Trump’s idea of resettlement prompted accusations that he was planning to cleanse ethnic groups and drew criticism from the United Nations, human rights groups and Arab leaders. Analysts doubt that it will happen.
After initial comments on Trump’s issue, his officials suggested that the relocation was merely temporary.
Under his plan, Trump wrote about the true society, Gazan “will have already resettled in this area with a much safer and more beautiful home and a much safer and more beautiful community.” The US will then become part of efforts to redevelop the enclave, he said.
His post did not make clear whether two million residents of Palestinian territory would be invited to return.
Under international law, attempts to forcibly transfer populations from occupied territory are strictly prohibited.
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday that evacuation will be temporary. In his own comments made on the same day, Secretary of State Rubio said Gazan was to leave the territory for a “tentative” period while the shards were cleared and reconstruction took place.
These views contradict Trump’s initial comments on the issue. When he proposed to develop Gaza into the “Middle Eastern Riviera” on Tuesday, Trump suggested that Palestinian displacement was permanent.
“The US will take over the Gaza Strip and we will use it to work,” he called it “worthy of attention” during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday. He said.
The New York Times said the announcement surprised even senior Trump aides because there is a lack of plans for the idea.
Trump’s fresh comments on Thursday were more clearly agreed by American soldiers, but the US said they “were not committed to putting their boots on the ground.
Speaking immediately at a prayer breakfast, the president briefly reflected the situation in Gaza, but did not mention his stated plan for the United States to “take over” the territory.
After turning his attention to the Middle East, Trump said he hopes that “his greatest legacy will be known as peace superintendent and unity.”
After 15 months of fighting, the Gaza Strip is a territory of 41 km (25 miles) long and 10 km (6 miles) wide, and is barely inhabited.
The entire district is being destroyed to the ground. The farmland, which once had greenery, was reduced to sand and tiled bleach.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) warns that it could take 21 years to remove and dispose of all debris.
It describes water and sanitation systems as “almost completely abolished,” warnings camps and shelters to raise waste, and chemicals from destroyed solar panels and used ammunition contaminates soil and water supply. He emphasized the risk that there is a possibility of this.
According to UN agencies, more than 50 million tonnes of debris have been accumulated as a result of the destruction.
Israeli forces launched a campaign on October 7, 2023 to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented cross-border attack. Around 1,200 people were killed there and 251 were taken hostages.
More than 47,550 people have been killed and 111,600 have been injured in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamasran Ministry of Health.
