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President Donald Trump on Tuesday said the US will "take over" the Gaza Strip and redevelop the Palestinian territory, adding he was prepared to send in troops if necessary, in an astonishing pivot in American policy towards Israel and Palestine that could reshape the Middle East.
Also read: Will the US take over Gaza? What to expect from Trump's plan
Mr Trump's remarks came during a news conference after he welcomed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House.
"The US will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a good job with it, too," Mr Trump said. "We'll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site."
He suggested America's "ownership position" over Gaza would be long term. He said he is prepared to send US troops to the Palestinian territory if necessary, and claimed his plan would bring stability to the Middle East.
"We're going to take over that piece, and we're going to develop it, create thousands and thousands of jobs, and it'll be something that the entire Middle East can be very proud of."
He added that he had spoken to regional leaders about the plan, and they supported it. But the Saudi government, in a statement, stressed its rejection of any attempt to displace Palestinians from their land and said it would not establish relations with Israel without establishment of a Palestinian state.
Asked who would live in a US-controlled Gaza, he did not say if Palestinians would be allowed back there, instead saying "the world's people" would be welcome. He added the area could become the "Riviera of the Middle East", a long-stated talking point of Israel.
Mr Trump also said he had not taken a position about Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank and that he would be making an announcement on the issue in the coming weeks.
Mr Netanyahu, who is in Washington for a week-long trip, appeared supportive of Mr Trump's proposed actions in Gaza as well as his support for Israel, saying the US President was the "greatest friend" his country has ever had.
He credited the US President with "thinking outside the box with fresh ideas" and was "showing willingness to puncture conventional thinking".
"And I've seen you do this many times," Mr Netanyahu said. "You cut to the chase."
Earlier in the day, Mr Trump had repeated his desire to see all Palestinians displaced from Gaza and relocated to Jordan or Egypt, and suggested other countries would host them too.
Global reactions to Trump's comments
The proposal is bound to send shockwaves across the Middle East. Arab states have already said they adamantly oppose it and Palestinians say this plan is akin to events in 1948, when Zionist militias expelled Palestinians en mass ahead of the creation of Israel.
The UN envoy for Palestine, Riyad Mansour, said in New York that Gaza is "part of Palestine … They [Palestinians] want to rebuild Gaza. They want to rebuild the schools, the hospitals, the roads, the infrastructures and the buildings and homes, because this is where they belong."
Hamas responded to Mr Trump's plans by calling them a "recipe for creating chaos and tension in the region".
"Our people in Gaza have thwarted migration and expulsion plans even under attacks for 15 months. The Palestinian people are rooted in their land and will not accept any plan aimed at uprooting them,” the group's statement said.
Izzat Al Risheq, a senior member of the Hamas political bureau, said on his Telegram account that the group opposed Mr Trump's statements on displacing Palestinians from Gaza, calling the US President's statements "racist and represent a clear attempt to eliminate the Palestinian issue while disregarding our steadfast national rights".
Saudi Arabia stressed its rejection of any attempt to displace Palestinians from Gaza and said it would not move towards normalising ties with Israel without the establishment of a Palestinian state. Mr Netanyahu had earlier said he believed the normalisation of ties was "going to happen."
"Saudi Arabia will continue its relentless efforts to establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and will not establish diplomatic relations with Israel without that," the Saudi foreign ministry said in a statement on X.
"This unwavering position is non-negotiable and not subject to compromises," it added.
Earlier on Tuesday, a US official said Mr Trump believed it was "inhumane" to expect people to live in the "demolition site" of Gaza. The official added that the removal of Palestinians from the enclave is not a solution that the US was going “to impose” on Arab nations and Israel – “rather, we're asking our friends and partners and allies to come together as we look for what solutions we can provide that would be humane and will provide dignity for the Palestinian people”.
The President claimed that "everybody" he had spoken to loved the idea of the US taking ownership of Gaza. But outside the White House, protesters expressed differing opinions.
"What it means to us is that we have to continue doing what we always do. It is our job as Palestinians and the diaspora to continue to resist US interventionism by whatever means are available to us," protester Deena Khalil told The National.
Democratic Senator Chris Coons expressed disbelief over Mr Trump's announcement, saying of his not ruling out the use of US soldiers: "That’s insane. I can’t think of a place on earth that would welcome American troops less and where any positive outcome is less likely."
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham called the plan potentially "problematic". "We’ll see what our Arab friends say about that. I think most South Carolinians [his contituents] would probably not be excited about sending Americans to take over Gaza," he told Jewish Insider.
Mr Trump and his Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, are credited for sealing the three-phased agreement between Israel and Hamas last month that paused the war and launched the start of the release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian detainees.
Mr Netanyahu, who leads a right-wing coalition, is under pressure to press on with the war in an attempt to eradicate Hamas, which appears to have reasserted its power in Gaza. The war was ignited on October 7, 2023 when Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people. Israel's retaliatory war has killed more than 47,500 Palestinians, according to local officials, and reduced much of the coastal enclave to rubble.
Since starting his second term on January 20, Mr Trump has sought to highlight his support for Israel. He resumed a withheld shipment of a 2,000-pound bombs to Israel and revoked sanctions his predecessor placed on far-right Israeli settlers. He also signed an executive order that would see pro-Palestinian foreign students deported.
