(Bloomberg) — Aides to President Donald Trump sought to tone down his idea of depopulating and taking over Gaza after his suggestion that the US would “own” the war-ravaged territory was welcomed in Israel but widely condemned elsewhere.
No one, including Israel, was expecting Trump’s public suggestion on Tuesday that his country step in and rebuild the coastal Palestinian territory, creating what he called a new “Riviera.” The approach would, according to Trump, require moving more than 2 million Gazans out of the enclave, with the president even raising the possibility of deploying US troops.
But by Thursday, the message from aides was that Trump was thinking creatively out loud. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt insisted that US taxpayers wouldn’t foot the bill, and said that the president hadn’t “committed to putting boots on the ground in Gaza.” She also indicated the displacement of Palestinians might only be temporary, rather than the permanent relocation Trump has repeatedly suggested.
“This is an out-of-the-box idea,” Leavitt told reporters. “That’s who President Trump is. That’s why the American people elected him, and his goal is lasting peace in the Middle East for all people in the region.”
She said Trump, who spoke during a White House visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “has not committed to putting boots on the ground in Gaza” and the US “is not going to pay for the rebuilding of Gaza. His administration is going to work with our partners in the region” on reconstruction.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered a similar caution during a stop in Guatemala, saying that Trump wanted the US to play a leading role in rebuilding Gaza, not own it.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the US is “a very long way” from any military deployment in Gaza, adding in a Fox News interview that “you don’t want to use American boots on the ground if you don’t have to.”
Trump’s talk of a reborn Gaza, made at a news conference alongside visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was welcomed in Israel, though widely condemned elsewhere in the Middle East and even among Washington’s top European allies.
Israeli lawmakers praised the surprise proposal as a means to end the war with Hamas, currently paused amid a fragile six-week ceasefire. The Palestinian Authority, which controls parts of the West Bank though not Gaza, quickly rejected the suggestion, saying the group would oppose “all calls for the displacement of the Palestinian people from their homeland.”
Saudi Arabia called the plan an “infringement on the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.” The kingdom is at the heart of Trump’s goal of shaking up the order of the Middle East, with the US president keen for it to normalize ties with Israel.
“The US will take over the Gaza Strip,” Trump said Tuesday. “We’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site.”
Trump’s suggestions have broadened the debate about the future of Gaza, which has been devastated by 16 months of war between Israel and Hamas, the Iran-backed militant group that runs the territory. The vast majority of the population has been displaced into camps due to heavy Israeli bombardments of urban areas, and essentials such as medicine, food and clean water are in short supply.
The ceasefire started last month — a deal brokered by the US, Qatar and Egypt and for which Trump took credit. Talks about a second phase got underway this week and one Arab official, speaking privately, said the timing of the US President’s comments could jeopardize those negotiations.
Gazans would be highly likely to resist any attempt to displace them, the official said, adding that Iran would exploit the anger over the proposal, raising tensions in the region.
Ahead of the White House meeting with Netanyahu, Trump had promoted the idea of Palestinians relocating to Egypt or Jordan while Gaza is rebuilt, a scenario that was roundly rejected by Palestinian authorities and Arab states including Saudi Arabia.
In Israel, Trump’s plan was welcomed across the political spectrum.
Far-right politicians were euphoric, as senior figures such as Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich have long argued for Israel to annex both Gaza and the West Bank. Responding to a question from a reporter about Israeli sovereignty over the latter Palestinian territory, Trump said he hasn’t taken a position and an announcement would come in the next four weeks.
More moderate figures voiced a mixture of support and concern over what the Gaza proposals would mean for the ceasefire with Hamas.
“Trump displayed creative, original and interesting thinking, which must be examined alongside the realization of the goals of the war, and prioritizing the return of all hostages,” said Benny Gantz, a former defense minister who quit Netanyahu’s government in June after questioning the premier’s handling of the conflict.
Yair Lapid, Israel’s leader of the opposition and a former prime minister, questioned how the US could take over Gaza, given widespread opposition to the proposal in the Middle East, not least from Palestinians themselves.
“We will have to see organized plans to say whether it is feasible,” Lapid told Israel’s Army Radio on Wednesday. The idea of Gaza “posing no threat to Israel, is important,” he added.
Israel has made clear throughout the conflict that it will seek to maintain security control over Gaza for the foreseeable future. That, says the government, is the only way to ensure there’s no repeat of the Oct 7, 2023 Hamas attacks that triggered the war. It also wants to end Hamas’s existence as a military and governing power in Gaza.
Netanyahu’s coalition has stopped short of presenting a “day after” solution for Gaza, however. The question of who runs the territory and oversees reconstruction is a critical point in talks to extend the ceasefire. The Palestinian Authority, which is internationally recognized, has said it would step in and replace Hamas — but Israel has ruled that out.
Last week, the PA Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa told Bloomberg News that Gaza can be rebuilt without anyone being displaced. Trump, he said, “will actually help us all do the right deal, a balanced deal that could hopefully end the conflict in the region.”
Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri said the group — designated a terrorist organization in the US and other countries — considers Trump’s latest comments “a recipe for creating chaos and tension in the region.” The Gazans don’t have officially recognized representatives.
‘Unacceptable’
Turkey’s Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan, called Trump’s Gaza plan “unacceptable.” He told state-run Anadolu Agency that “the issue of deportation is something that neither the region nor we can accept.”
“It’s wrong to even open it up for discussion,” he said.
Turkey — like many Muslim countries — has been highly critical of Israel’s war in Gaza. Ankara has halted trade and, in November, prevented Israeli President Isaac Herzog from using its airspace.
Saudi Arabia reiterated its support for a Palestinian state and spoke out against “any infringement on the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people whether through Israeli settlement policies, land annexation, or attempts to displace the Palestinian people from their land.”
Riyadh’s role may prove critical, given Trump’s goal to secure the normalization of diplomatic relations between the kingdom and Israel.
The US-Gaza takeover plan was disparaged even among Israel’s allies. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said a Palestinian expulsion would be unacceptable and contrary to international law.
“It would also lead to new suffering and new hatred,” she said.
France also expressed opposition to any forced displacement of the Palestinian population in Gaza, saying the country, like Germany, favors both the removal of Hamas and a so-called two-state solution, which envisages an independent Palestinian state.
Netanyahu Boost
The reactions to Trump’s comments from the Israeli far right are good news for Netanyahu, who left for Washington with allies such as Smotrich threatening to collapse the government if he doesn’t commit to restarting the war against Hamas. The finance minister’s enthusiasm for the US proposal pushed that issue into the background.
“The plan presented yesterday by President Trump is the real answer to October 7th,” Smotrich said Wednesday. “Whoever committed the most terrible massacre on our land will find himself losing his land forever.”
Smotrich refrained from repeating earlier threats that he’d quit the cabinet if a permanent truce is agreed.
In the immediate term, the ceasefire discussions are critical. Israel and Hamas are still far apart on crucial issues that would allow a second phase to get underway in early March.
Steve Witkoff, Trump’s Middle East envoy, has indicated he wants Israel to commit to the second stage of the ceasefire, which is meant to lead to a permanent cessation in hostilities. Trump and Netanyahu said little about that in their press conference.
–With assistance from Fadwa Hodali, Ugur Yilmaz, Laura Malsch, Jennifer A. Dlouhy, Golnar Motevalli, Annmarie Hordern, Justin Sink, Chelsea Mes and Derek Wallbank.
(Updates with Hegseth downplaying chance of US military involvement in seventh paragraph.)
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