Donald Trump has vowed to move Palestinians into ‘beautiful, safe communities’ across the Middle East as he laid out his plan for ‘ownership’ of the war-torn territory.
The US president’s remarks came in an interview with Fox News‘ Bret Baier on Monday night, less than a week after he floated his plan to take control of Gaza and turn it into ‘the Riviera of the Middle East’.
When asked if Palestinians in Gaza would have a right to return to the territory, he responded ‘no, they wouldn’t’, claiming that they would have ‘much better housing’ elsewhere in the Middle East.
‘We’ll build beautiful communities, safe communities…a little bit away from where they are, where all of this danger is.
‘In the meantime, I would own this’, he said referring to the Gaza strip.
‘Think of it as a real estate development for the future. It would be a beautiful piece of land. No big money spent’, he added, noting that he would want his plans to start ‘almost immediately’, putting an end to a conflict that has been ‘going on forever’.
Trump also highlighted that he would ‘make a deal’ with Arab states, such as Egypt or Jordan, and pay them ‘billions and billions of dollars a year’ to take in Palestinians from Gaza, who claim the territory as part of a future homeland.
Trump’s latest comments contradict those of some officials in his administration who have sought to argue that he was only calling for the temporary relocation of Gaza’s population.
Meanwhile, Arab nations have sharply criticized Trump’s proposal, with Egypt and Jordan privately raising concerns about welcoming large numbers of additional refugees into their countries.
Trump is set to host Jordan’s King Abdullah II at the White House on Tuesday.
When asked how he’d convince Abdullah to take in Palestinians, Trump told reporters last night, ‘I do think he’ll take, and I think other countries will take also. They have good hearts.’
But he also threatened to potentially withhold billions of dollars of US assistance to Jordan and Egypt if they don’t go along with his plan.
‘Yeah, maybe, sure why not,’ Trump said. ‘If they don’t, I would conceivably withhold aid, yes.’
It comes after the US president doubled down on his plans to ‘buy and own Gaza’ on Sunday, telling reporters onboard Air Force One ‘I’m committed to buying and owning Gaza’ as he made his way to the New Orleans for the Super Bowl.
‘We may give it to other states in the Middle East to build sections of it. Other people may do it through our auspices. But we’re committed to owning it, taking it, and making sure that Hamas doesn’t move back’, he said.
Trump’s recent comments have risked jeopardizing the already tenuous ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza after 15 months of war, with the existing framework for negotiations calling for the massive humanitarian and reconstruction assistance for civilians in Gaza.
His plans to relocate Palestinians have also sent shock-waves around the world, with America’s allies voicing concern and rights groups warning the move would be tantamount to ‘ethnic cleansing’.
Trump also threatened last night that he would cancel Israel’s ceasefire on Gaza and ‘let all hell break loose’ if all of the 76 remaining hostages are not released by noon on Saturday.
The president made the comments as he was signing executive orders in the Oval Office, after the terror group announced it was scrapping a hostage release scheduled for Saturday after it claimed that Israel had violated the terms of their agreement.
In response to Trump’s threats, a senior Hamas official said that the Republican president needed to ‘remember that there is an agreement that must be respected by both parties and this is the only way to return the prisoners.’
‘The language of threats has no value and further complicates matters’, Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri added.
