Trump Proposes U.S. Responsibility for Gaza's Reconstruction
President Trump on Tuesday floated the U.S. taking over the Gaza Strip, saying America should be responsible for clearing the territory of rubble and unexploded bombs and proposing an economic development.
Trump's remarks are some of his most extreme rhetoric regarding the future of the territory where nearly two million Palestinians live and hope to be part of a future Palestinian state. Trump also suggested that "we" would develop the land but gave no details on who would be allowed to live there.
"The US will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job - whether 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.
"Create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area, do a real job, do something different."
Trump made the statements during opening remarks alongside a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The remarks that the U.S. will take over Gaza follows Trump's statements throughout the day suggesting that Palestinians would leave the territory voluntarily, would be resettled elsewhere, and wouldn't want to return.
Trump called for countries "of interest with humanitarian hearts" to build "various domains" that could "be occupied by the 1.8 million Palestinians living in Gaza."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Trump as a leader who thinks outside the box.
"You say things others refuse to say and after the jaws drop, people scratch their heads, and they say, 'you know, he's right,'" Netanyahu said.
Arab nations have publicly rejected displacing Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.
But "Palestinians do not want to leave their land," foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and a senior Palestinian official wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio this week.
"We support their position unequivocally," they wrote and called for Palestinians to "live in their land and help rebuild it."
Later Trump reiterated that "we" would rebuild the strip.
"As far as Gaza's concerned, we will do what's necessary... we're going to take over that piece and we're going to develop it. Create thousands and thousands of jobs and it's going to be something that the entire Middle East can be proud of," Trump said.
"I think we'll be a great keeper of something that is very, very strong," he said, adding that jobs created in Gaza will be "for everybody."
