US President Donald Trump said yesterday that he wants to \u201ctake over\u201d the Gaza Strip and resettle Palestinians in neighboring countries.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’re going to own it, and we’re going to be responsible for dismantling all the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the ground,\u201d the US president said at a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He added that he wants to take over Gaza and do business in that \u201cpiece of land,\u201d creating \u201cthousands of jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump, who has long opposed America’s \u201cforever wars,\u201d even hinted that he was open to deploying US troops to secure the region, saying he would \u201cdo whatever it takes.\u201d Trump said he sees the US presence in the region as a \u201clong-term ownership position.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added that Gaza must be rebuilt as a new \u201cRiviera.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt should not go through a process of reconstruction and occupation by the same people who lived there, died there, and led a miserable life there,\u201d he said, adding that they would be responsible for creating economic development that would provide unlimited jobs and housing for \u201cthe people of the region.\u201d<\/p>\n
Netanyahu: Something that will change history<\/b><\/p>\n
According to Bloomberg, as Trump continued to describe his vision during the press conference, Netanyahu, a few steps away, looked puzzled at times but made no protest.<\/p>\n
According to a person familiar with the matter, only a handful of people were aware of the proposal before Trump’s announcement.<\/p>\n
Netanyahu praised Trump for thinking at a \u201cmuch higher level,\u201d saying: \u201cWe are talking about it, and he is looking into it with his staff. I think this is something that could change history, and it’s really worth following this path,\u201d he claimed.<\/p>\n
Asked about US ally Jordan\u2019s previous refusal to take in Palestinians, Trump pointed to Venezuela, which recently agreed to take back US deportees after refusing for a year.<\/p>\n
Trump wants to visit Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Gaza<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cLook, the Gaza thing didn’t work,\u201d Trump told reporters in the Oval Office earlier in the day. \u201cI think they should get a good, fresh, beautiful piece of land, and we’ll get somebody to put the money in and build it and beautify it and make it a livable and pleasant place to live,\u201d Trump told reporters in the Oval Office earlier in the day.<\/p>\n
The American leader said he would not be deterred by opposition and pledged to visit Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the Gaza Strip during his upcoming foreign trip, saying many countries with a \u201chumanitarian heart\u201d wanted to support him.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are many countries that want to do this and build various areas that will ultimately be occupied by the 1.8 million Palestinians living in Gaza, to end the death and destruction and, frankly, bad luck,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n
Earlier in the Oval Office, Trump said that \u201creally rich\u201d countries would supply land, and various areas could be built for permanent housing where Palestinians could \u201clive a beautiful life,\u201d suggesting that the new developments would be so beautiful that Palestinian refugees would not want to return to their homeland.<\/p>\n
Trump expressed confidence that Saudi Arabia would support the proposal and said that he and other countries would welcome a new approach to addressing conflicts in the region.<\/p>\n
\u201cSaudi Arabia will be very helpful, and they have already been very helpful. But everybody thinks that continuing the same process over and over again, which goes on forever, and then the deaths and all the other problems start,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n
Netanyahu said he \u201cbelieves that peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia is not only possible but will be realized.\u201d<\/p>\n
Saudi response: No normalization without a Palestinian state<\/b><\/p>\n
However, Saudi Arabia quickly responded to Trump\u2019s statements, declaring that it would not normalize relations with Israel without a Palestinian state.<\/p>\n
Saudi Arabia\u2019s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday that Saudi Arabia rejects any attempt to expel Palestinians from their land and that its position toward the Palestinians is non-negotiable.<\/p>\n
The statement said that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman \u201cclearly and unequivocally\u201d confirmed the kingdom\u2019s position, which does not allow for interpretation under any circumstances.<\/p>\n
The ministry said its position in favor of a Palestinian state on the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, was \u201cfirm and unchanging.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump had said that Saudi Arabia did not insist on a Palestinian state.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
US President Donald Trump said yesterday that he wants to \u201ctake over\u201d the Gaza Strip and resettle Palestinians in neighboring countries. \u201cWe’re going to own it, and we’re going to be responsible for dismantling all the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the ground,\u201d the US president said at a press conference with Israeli […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7642,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[6033,1138,319,6036,1334,1400,503,6035,2796,6034,679,6038,1644,6037],"class_list":["post-7641","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middleeast","tag-annexation-plan","tag-benjamin-netanyahu","tag-donald-trump","tag-economic-development-in-gaza","tag-gaza","tag-gaza-strip","tag-headline","tag-israel-palestine-peace-process","tag-middle-east-conflict","tag-palestinian-resettlement","tag-saudi-arabia","tag-saudi-crown-prince-mohammed-bin-salman","tag-us-foreign-policy","tag-us-troop-deployment"],"yoast_head":"\n