President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the United States will “take over” Gaza and that he would not be opposed to the deployment of US troops to ensure American ownership, adding that the Palestinians who live there should leave.
At a joint press conference with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump stated, “The US will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too.”
“I do see a long-term ownership position, and I see it bringing great stability to that part of the Middle East, and maybe the entire Middle East,” Trump noted to reporters in the East Room of the White House.
In announcing his “long-term ownership and redevelopment plan,” the president declared that Gaza has the potential to become the “Riviera of the Middle East.” The president has also expressed his intention to visit Gaza in the near future.
Trump’s remarks contradict decades of US foreign policy, which prioritizes a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine, and his prior reluctance to intervene in the Middle East.
