President Donald Trump’s Tuesday proposal to take control of the strip envisioned its transformation into the “Riviera of the Middle East”
US President Donald Trump will leverage Washington’s partners in the Middle East to fund the rebuilding of Gaza, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has said.
On Tuesday, Trump announced that “the US will take over the Gaza Strip,” level the buildings destroyed in the war between Israel and Hamas and turn the territory into the “Riviera of the Middle East.” When asked whether he would send US troops into the enclave, Trump stated he would “do what is necessary.” The US leader added that Palestinians should be relocated to nearby states, at the expense of “neighboring countries of great wealth.”
“The United States is not going to pay for the rebuilding of Gaza,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told journalists in a press briefing on Wednesday, fielding questions about the US president’s proposal.
“His administration is going to work with our partners in the region to reconstruct this region,” the spokesperson said, adding that Trump has not yet committed to sending US troops into Gaza.
When asked if the US is prepared to forcibly evict Palestinians from the enclave, the press secretary responded, “The President is prepared to rebuild Gaza for Palestinians and all people in the region, peace-loving people who want real economic development and opportunity.”
Regarding whether Gazans wishing to remain in the strip would be allowed to do so, Leavitt stated that President Trump is “committed to rebuilding Gaza and to temporarily relocating those who are there.”
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The US president has spoken to several leaders of Arab states, and “has made it very clear” and “been very vocal, that he expects our partners in the region, particularly Egypt and Jordan, to accept Palestinian refugees,” Leavitt said.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II firmly spoke out against any attempts to displace Palestinians or annex their land, according to a post the Jordanian royal court posted on X on Wednesday.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry stressed the importance of ensuring that Palestinians remain in Gaza in a Wednesday press release, in which it reaffirmed Cairo’s support for enacting a two-state solution.
Earlier, Saudi Arabia emphasized that it will not formalize relations with Israel until a Palestinian state is formally recognized by all parties. The kingdom unequivocally rejects any “attempts to displace the Palestinian people from their land,” the Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
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