Nearly 48 hours after US President Donald Trump announced the US would take over Gaza to build waterfront resorts, the details are not only murky but seemingly non-existent.
Despite his own officials walking back major aspects of the proposal, including the permanent expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza, Trump doubled down in a post on his TruthSocial platform on Thursday, only this time saying that “no soldiers by the US would be needed!!”
“The Gaza Strip would be turned over to the United States by Israel at the conclusion of fighting,” Trump wrote, suggesting that the next phase of the fragile ceasefire, due to start on 1 March, was in peril.
“The Palestinians… would have already been resettled in far safer and more beautiful communities, with new and modern homes, in the region. They would actually have a chance to be happy, safe and free. The US, working with great development teams from all over the World, would slowly and carefully begin the construction of what would become one of the greatest and most spectacular developments of its kind on Earth,” Trump said.
In Israel, officials said plans are already underway to carry out Trump’s proposal despite some of the strongest language yet from neighbouring Arab states rejecting the notion of Palestinian population transfer.
New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch
Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on
Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters
Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, wrote on X on Thursday that he has “instructed the [Israeli forces] to prepare a plan that will allow any resident of Gaza who wishes to leave to do so, to any country willing to receive them”.
“The plan will include exit options via land crossings, as well as special arrangements for departure by sea and air,” he said. “The people of Gaza should have the right to freedom of movement and migration, as is customary everywhere in the world.”
The statement comes despite more than 15 months of Israeli bombardment on Gaza, during which Palestinians were not allowed to leave unless they could pay thousands of dollars to a private Egyptian agency to secure transportation through the Rafah crossing. Even then, getting out was not guaranteed.
That crossing has now been shut down for a year. The borders with Israel are also entirely sealed off.
Before the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel, Gaza was also under an Israeli military air, land, and sea blockade for 17 years, specifically designed to prevent freedom of movement.
“Countries such as Spain, Ireland, Norway, and others, which have falsely accused Israel over its actions in Gaza, are legally obligated to allow Gazans to enter their territory. Their hypocrisy will be exposed if they refuse,” Katz said. “Meanwhile, countries like Canada, which has a structured immigration program, have previously expressed willingness to take in residents from Gaza.”
‘Catastrophic consequences’
Egypt, which is a key mediator between Hamas and Israel and has been named by Trump alongside Jordan as a host for Palestinian “resettlement”, condemned Katz’s comments on Thursday.
“The Arab Republic of Egypt cautions against statements issued today by several members of the Israeli government regarding the launch of a plan to displace the Palestinian people from their homeland. This constitutes a blatant and flagrant violation of international law, international humanitarian law, and infringes on the most basic rights of the Palestinian people, which necessitates accountability,” the statement said.
It further warned of “catastrophic consequences” from what it called “irresponsible behaviour, which undermines the negotiations regarding the ceasefire agreement”.
Can Jared Kushner’s investment firm connect Gulf money to Trump’s Gaza plan?
Read More »
While the statement did not address the US directly, it affirmed Egypt’s “complete rejection of any proposal or concept aimed at eliminating the Palestinian cause through uprooting or displacing the Palestinian people from their historic homeland and its seizure, whether on a temporary or permanent basis”.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4 on Thursday, Egyptian diplomat Hossam Zaki, who also serves as the assistant secretary general of the League of Arab States, called the forced expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza “delusional”.
“I know my country. I know the leadership of my country. I think I am speaking on very solid ground. And I tell you, there is no chance in hell that this is going to happen,” he said.
Osama Hamdan, a senior spokesperson for Hamas, told Aljazeera on Thursday that if population transfers begin with Palestinians, they will not end there, and the move would set a dangerous precedent for the region, where Jordanians may be targeted next.
Far-right elements in Israel, many of whom comprise Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government, believe that “Greater Israel” includes all of Jordan and Lebanon, as well as parts of Syria, Egypt, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia.
Ceasefire impact
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking to reporters in the Dominican Republic on Thursday, avoided saying whether or not Palestinians could return to Gaza if they exit the enclave and again reiterated how Trump’s plan was about safety – so that residents are not living next to unexploded ordnance.
One day earlier, he had offered the most significant walkback of Trump’s proposal, explaining that any population transfer would be temporary in nature. On Thursday, he repeated that it would be for “the interim”.
Still, Tariq Habash, who became the first Palestinian-American Biden administration appointee to resign last year in protest against the US’s Gaza policy, told Middle East Eye that even a short-term transfer of Palestinians outside the enclave must be rejected.
“Their continued endorsement of even temporary displacement is unacceptable,” he said.
Habash is now the co-founder of the Washington-based think tank, A New Policy, alongside another State Department resignee, Josh Paul.
“It’s disturbing to see a president endorse ethnic cleansing as official US policy. It’s a blatant violation of international law, and the US has no right to ‘own’ Gaza or dictate a future for the Palestinian people,” Habash told MEE.
Donald Trump’s Gaza plan: Ethnic cleansing or a crime against humanity?
Read More »
“This is not diplomacy and is not in America’s interest.”
The question remains as to what exactly the surprise Trump announcement for a “Riviera of the Middle East” means for phase two of the Gaza ceasefire deal, during which further captive swaps are set to take place, and Israel is expected to withdraw from the enclave entirely.
According to Fox News, which cited a US official, Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani will be in Florida on Thursday to meet with Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff. The two are set to discuss the implementation of phase one of the deal and also kickstart negotiations for phase two.
Both the king of Jordan and the king of Bahrain are expected at the White House next week on separate visits. On Thursday, the League of Arab States issued a statement rejecting any US control of Gaza.
Hamdan, the Hamas spokesperson, told Aljazeera that, ultimately, Palestinians must have both their rights and their homeland.
“If it was delivered by the international community to them, that will be good. If not, they will resist,” he said.
