Washington:
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday suggested permanently displacing Palestinians from Gaza, saying people there had no alternative but to leave the Palestinian enclave devastated by Israel’s military assault.
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
Trump, who was to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, first floated the suggestion of displacing Palestinians from Gaza on Jan. 25 by urging Egypt and Jordan take in more people. When asked back then if he was suggesting a long-term or short-term solution, he said: “Could be either.”
He has since reiterated that plan at least four times, including on Tuesday when he said Palestinians in Gaza could go to other countries beyond Jordan and Egypt as well.
Jordan, Egypt and other Arab nations, as well as Palestinian leaders, have publicly rejected the idea that critics say would amount to ethnic cleansing.
The U.S. president’s comments have echoed long-standing Palestinian fears of being permanently driven from their homes.
KEY QUOTES
“I feel very differently about Gaza than a lot of people. I think they should get a good, fresh, beautiful piece of land, and we get some people to put up the money to build it and make it nice and make it habitable and enjoyable,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday.
“I don’t know how they (Palestinians) could want to stay,” Trump said when asked about reactions by Palestinian and Arab leaders to his proposal.
“They are not going to want to go back to Gaza,” Trump later said about his proposal.
CONTEXT
Israel’s military assault on Gaza has killed over 47,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry, and led to accusations of genocide and war crimes that Israel denies.
The assault has also internally displaced nearly Gaza’s entire population and caused a hunger crisis. The fighting has currently paused amid a fragile ceasefire.
The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on Oct. 7, 2023, when Palestinian Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
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