United States President Donald Trump has said the US will “take over” and “own” Gaza after resettling Palestinians elsewhere under a redevelopment plan that could see the enclave become “the Riviera of the Middle East”.
In a shock announcement upending decades of US policy toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Trump said on Tuesday that his administration would spearhead an economic development plan in the enclave that would “supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area.”
‘Gaza is not a place for people to be living’
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“The US will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it, too. We’ll own it,” Trump said at the White on Tuesday after talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, adding that Washington would be responsible for clearing destroyed buildings and dismantling “dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons.”
Trump said he envisioned the US taking a “long-term ownership position” over the enclave.
“This was not a decision made lightly. Everybody I’ve spoken to loves the idea of the United States owning that piece of land, developing and creating thousands of jobs with something that will be magnificent,” he said.
Trump expressed his hope that displaced Palestinians in Gaza would “go to other countries of interest with humanitarian hearts”, though he suggested Palestinians would also continue leaving there.
The US president said Gaza could become home to the “world’s people”.
“I think you will make that into an international, unbelievable place. I think the potential in the Gaza Strip is unbelievable. And I think the entire world – representatives from all over the world will be now – Palestinians also, Palestinians will live there,” he said. “Many people will live there.”
(SOURCE; Al Jazeera)