At a press conference after his White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Donald Trump said that the United States should take over Gaza and displace the Palestinians who live there.
“The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip,” said the President. “We’ll own it … We have an opportunity to do something that could be phenomenal … the Riviera of the Middle East.”
“We should go to other countries of interest with humanitarian hearts, and there are many of them that want to do this, and build various domains that will ultimately be occupied by the 1.8 million Palestinians living in Gaza, ending the death and destruction and, frankly, bad luck,” he continued.
Trump was immediately condemned by human rights groups and analysts.
“Make no mistake: forcibly removing Palestinians from Gaza is ethnic cleansing. It is obviously illegal, deeply morally wrong, and incredibly dangerous,” said the organization Win Without War in a statement. “Palestinians in Gaza have endured unimaginable violence over the last 16 months and still face near-famine conditions. Only a tenuous ceasefire is preventing a return to full-scale war and making sure the remainder of the hostages can get back to their loved ones. People in Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, and beyond need a real end to the war, not permanent forced displacement.”
“Trump’s comments must not be dismissed as mere rhetoric,” said Americans for Justice in Palestine Action (AJP Action). “They reflect a deeply entrenched policy of U.S. support for Israel’s crimes. If we do not act now, history will judge our silence as complicity in one of the gravest human rights violations of our time.”
“Anyone who believes that Palestinians will leave Gaza doesn’t understand the relationship that Indigenous people have with their native homeland,” tweeted U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR). “The love for our land runs deeper than colonizers could ever imagine. Our steadfast people refuse to be uprooted.”
“Is he talking in geopolitical terms, or does he simply see Gaza as a massive beachfront development project?” Khaled Elgindy, a visiting scholar at Georgetown University’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, told the New York Times. “And for whose benefit? Certainly not Palestinians, who are to be ‘relocated’ en masse. Will the U.S. be the new occupier in Gaza, replacing the Israelis? What U.S. interest could this possibly serve?”
“They can try,” wrote journalist Sana Saeed. “Palestinians have shown that even with the entire world against them they will be victorious. They are returning to their homes and living on what rubble remains – you cannot defeat people like that & I do not mean this in an inspirational way. Just stating fact. Good luck.”
“Palestinians don’t want to go anywhere,” said Palestinian author Laila El-Haddad. “They want to live in freedom and dignity in their own homes, and for the source of their suffering-Israel-to be held accountable.”
The proposal was also criticized by many Democratic lawmakers.
On the House floor, Rep. Al Green (D-TX), said he would bring Articles of Impeachment against Trump over the issue.
“Palestinians aren’t going anywhere,” said Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), the only Palestinian member of Congress. “This president can only spew this fanatical bullshit because of bipartisan support in Congress for funding genocide and ethnic cleansing. It’s time for my two-state solution colleagues to speak up.”
“He’s totally lost it,” Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) tweeted. “A US invasion of Gaza would lead to the slaughter of thousands of US troops and decades of war in the Middle East. It’s like a bad, sick joke.”
“Trump’s proposal to push two million Palestinians out of Gaza and take ‘ownership’ by force, if necessary, is simply ethnic cleansing by another name,” said Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD). “This declaration will give ammunition to Iran and other adversaries while undermining our Arab partners in the region.”
Even Republicans expressed reservations about the plan.
“I think that would be an interesting proposal,” Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told a reporter. “We’ll see what our Arab friends say about that. I think most South Carolinians would probably not be excited about sending Americans to take over Gaza. It might be problematic.”
“There’s probably a couple of kinks in that slinky,” said Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC).
“I did not have this on my bingo card. … I got so many questions,” an anonymous GOP Senator told Politico.
However, many pro-Israel conservatives publicly embraced the idea.
“Gaza MUST BE FREE from Hamas,” tweeted Secretary of State Marco Rubio. “As [Trump] shared today, the United States stands ready to lead and Make Gaza Beautiful Again. Our pursuit is one of lasting peace in the region for all people.”
“Trump’s “US will ‘take over’ Gaza, ‘own’ it, develop it, then make it an ‘international’ area” statement is an extraordinary declaration that could assure the end of the Islamic-Arab terrorist group Hamas, and secure southern Israel after decades of terrorist attacks and missile launches from Hamas in Gaza,” said Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) National President Morton Klein. “It will also be a major step towards a real peace in the region.”
“Trump’s proposed USA takeover of the Gaza Strip may sound out of the box, but it is brilliant, historic and the only idea I have heard in 50 years that has a chance of bringing security, peace and prosperity to this troubled region,” tweeted Trump’s former Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman.
At least one Democrat has also endorsed ethnic cleansing. Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) said he would “fully support” U.S. troops occupying Gaza.
“It’s a provocative part of the conversation, but it’s part of the conversation, and that’s where we are,” said Fetterman. “The Palestinians have refused, or they’ve been unwilling to deliver a government that provided security and economic development for themselves. They allowed 10/7 to occur, and now Gaza has to be rebuilt. Where are the people going to live? Where are they going to go? So it’s part of a conversation with where they’re at right now.”