US 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 US 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, Defence 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.
Meanwhile, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem has warned that US President Donald Trump’s plan to take over Gaza and displace its people is a “declaration of intent to occupy” the Palestinian territory, AFP reports. The Palestinian group also called for “an urgent Arab summit to confront the displacement” of Palestinians from Gaza“, Qassem said in a statement. “Gaza is for its people and they will not leave,” Qassem said.
“We call for the convening of an emergency Arab summit to confront the displacement project,” he added. “Trump’s remarks about Washington taking control of Gaza amount to an open declaration of intent to occupy the territory. “We do not need any country to run the Gaza Strip and we do not accept replacing one occupation with another. “We call on the Arab peoples and international organisations to take strong action to reject the Trump project.”