U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday Israel would hand over Gaza to the United States after fighting was over and the enclave's population was already resettled elsewhere, which he said meant no U.S. troops would be needed on the ground.
A day after worldwide condemnation of Trump's announcement that he aimed to take over and develop the Gaza Strip into the "Riviera of the Middle East", Israel ordered its army to prepare to allow the "voluntary departure" of Gaza Palestinians.
Trump, who had previously declined to rule out deploying U.S. troops to the small coastal territory, clarified his idea in comments on his Truth Social web platform.
"The Gaza Strip would be turned over to the United States by Israel at the conclusion of fighting," he said. Palestinians "would have already been resettled in far safer and more beautiful communities, with new and modern homes, in the region." He added: "No soldiers by the U.S. would be needed!"
Earlier, amid a tide of support in Israel for what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Trump's "remarkable" proposal, Defense Minister Israel Katz said he had ordered the army to prepare a plan to allow Gaza residents who wished to leave to exit the enclave voluntarily.
"I welcome President Trump's bold plan. Gaza residents should be allowed the freedom to leave and emigrate, as is the norm around the world," Katz said on X.
He said his plan would include exit options via land crossings, as well as special arrangements for departure by sea and air.
Trump's unexpected announcement on Tuesday, which sparked anger around the Middle East, came as Israel and Hamas were expected to begin talks in Doha on the second stage of a ceasefire deal for Gaza, intended to open the way for a full withdrawal of Israeli forces and an end to the war.
Regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia rebuffed the proposal outright and Jordan's King Abdullah, who will meet Trump at the White House next week, said on Wednesday he rejected any attempts to annex land and displace Palestinians.
Egypt also weighed in, saying it would not be part of any proposal to displace Palestinians from neighbouring Gaza, where residents reacted with fury to the suggestion.
"We will not sell our land for you, real estate developer. We are hungry, homeless, and desperate but we are not collaborators," said Abdel Ghani, a father of four living with his family in the ruins of their Gaza City home. "If (Trump) wants to help, let him come and rebuild for us here."
It is unclear whether Trump will go ahead with his proposal or, in keeping with his self-image as a shrewd dealmaker, has simply laid out an extreme position as a bargaining ploy. His first term in 2017-21 was replete with what critics said were over-the-top foreign policy pronouncements, many of which were never implemented.
What effect Trump's shock proposal may have on the ceasefire talks remains unclear. Only 13 of a group of 33 Israeli hostages due for release in the first phase have so far been returned, with three more due to come out on Saturday. Five Thai hostages have also been released.
Hamas official Basem Naim accused Israel's defence minister Katz of trying to cover up "for a state that has failed to achieve any of its objectives in the war on Gaza", and said Palestinians are too attached to their land to ever leave.
Displacement of Palestinians has been one of the most sensitive issues in the Middle East for decades. Forced or coerced displacement of a population under military occupation is a war crime, banned under the 1949 Geneva Conventions.
Details of how any such plan might work have been vague. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said different thinking was needed on Gaza's future but that any departures would have to be voluntary and states would have to be willing to take them.
"We don't have details yet, but we can talk about principles," Saar told a news conference with his Italian counterpart Antonio Tajani. "Everything must be based on the free will of (the) individual and, on the other hand, of a will of a state that is ready to absorb," he said.
A number of far-right Israeli politicians have openly called for Palestinians to be moved from Gaza and there was strong support for Trump's push among both security hawks and the Jewish settler movement, which wants to reclaim land in Gaza used for Jewish settlements until 2005.
Giora Eiland, an Israeli former general who attracted wide attention in an earlier stage of the war with his "Generals' Plan" for a forced displacement of people from northern Gaza, said Trump's plan was "logical" and aid should not be allowed to reach displaced people returning to northern Gaza.
Israel's military campaign killed tens of thousands of people after Hamas' October 7, 2023 cross-border attack on Israel touched off the war, and has forced Palestinians to repeatedly move around within Gaza in search of safety.
But many say they will never leave the enclave because they fear permanent displacement, like the "Nakba", or catastrophe, when hundreds of thousands were dispossessed from homes in the war at the birth of the state of Israel in 1948.
Katz said countries that have opposed Israel's military operations in Gaza should take in the Palestinians.
"Countries like Spain, Ireland, Norway, and others, which have levelled accusations and false claims against Israel over its actions in Gaza, are legally obligated to allow any Gaza resident to enter their territories," he said.
© (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2025.
18 Comments
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Jim
I hope that President Trump succeeds in his plan to move all the Palestinian people out of Gaza. That will be a deserving slap on the face of all the Arab Americans who voted for him ( Trump got 46 - 48% of Arab votes in certain swing states compared to 34-36% for Harris )! The Arab people need to learn that their idiotic actions have destructive consequences and Trump will teach them a lesson!
TaiwanIsNotChina
No troops, no money, and no destination. Stable genius says it is all at hand!!!
Tamarama
Well, if anyone ever needed clearer evidence of US hegemony and greed, look no further. These are the Emperor's true clothes.
itsonlyrocknroll
Jordan/Egypt along with any proposal for Gaza/west sustainable reconstruction is close to totally dependent on US government aid.
Yesterday I posted UN July 2024 Question of Palestine, unfortunately the PDF download was out of date
I have located the complete page including download, please review at convenience.
FAO Briefing note on OPT: Understanding the status of land rights for sustainable reconstruction of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank
https://www.un.org/unispal/document/briefing-note-fao-30jul24/
Without full US support, keeping in mind US government has withdrawn from a number of key UN Gaza aid programmes, the prospect for any sustainable programme of renewal is hobbled.
‘Worst nightmare’: Egypt and Jordan put in impossible bind by Trump Gaza plan
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/06/egypt-jordan-trump-gaza-plan
TaiwanIsNotChina
It's not actual policy yet. It still exists only in the mind of the deranged.
JJE
This makes Russia's long-term ownership position in certain areas look completely decent by comparison. They wanted the people first and foremost. Next, they rebuilt FOR the local people.
Complete, diametric opposite here! What a contrast. And look at what Netanyahu, and his US sponsors who armed him to the teeth, did to civilian areas - these photos are shocking (especially the bottom two).
sakurasuki
Trust occupier because occupier always kept promises?
Tamarama
TaiwaninnotChyna
It's never been official 'policy', has it. It's practise though, has been for a long time. It's the cake hidden under thick layers of creamy political spin.
bass4funk
You have a better idea for these people?? Of so what is it?
So what would your solution be to help the Gazans?
wallace
Netanyahu has asked the IDF to prepare a plan for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza. The Jews were the last people to suffer mass ethnic cleansing.
wallace
Arab states reject Trump's proposal.
Aly Rustom
Of course they do. If they didn't there would be a second arab uprising.
bass4funk
Then the Gazans will probably be relocated, either that or they can stay and live in Squalor, either way, they don’t have a lot of options, if the Arabs want their brethren to live like that, if you even want to call it that, so be it.
wallace
An important player is Saudi Arabia, which rejects Trump's proposal and will not have an accord with Israel unless there is a two-state solution.
Capuchin
I've demolished your school, your hospital, your place of worship and your home. Now I grant you the freedom to leave. 'Voluntarily' of course.
Vile.
Simon Foston
I wonder if Trump is coming out with all this stuff about Panama, Canada, Greenland and now Gaza to detract attention from how he seems to be doing nothing about jobs, wages, education, healthcare, taxes or living costs.
NB
The commenter John-San preached for the extermination of Israel, in yesterday's discussion thread, by saying as follows:
This is the proof that the Palestinian Arabs, who are led against their own good by the mad Hamas, and are inspired by the book Mein Kampf (a copy of the book is held in every Arabic home) Are not interested in having a state of their own, nor interested in having a life and rehabilitation. They are interested in one and only one thing: Committing genocide to Israel.
The ancient Jewish nation is still alive, in spite of continual attempts to kill the Jews, attempts that are ongoing for 4,000 years.
The Palestinian Arab nation is committing a big and tragic mistake. They could have opted to enjoy prosperous life in their own state of Palestine, residing next to Israel. The state of Israel itself is ethnically mixed, and serves as a home for Jews, Arabs, and various other ethnical groups. Arabs and Jews could have lived together, enriching each other materially and culturally:
https://youtu.be/ZWVH2Xheo7k
Ken
Probably from Musk, the Americans who supported Palestine and hoped they have peace and a ceasefire do not want the same Americans who sent Israel all the weapons to do anything more than the damage they already did. The Americans who cried about tax payer money being wasted don't want this either. It sounds like some sick joke all of it is a joke these days