United States President Donald Trump has said the US will “take over” and “own” Gaza after resettling Palestinians elsewhere under a redevelopment plan that could see the enclave become “the Riviera of the Middle East”.
In a shock announcement upending decades of US policy toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Trump said on Tuesday that his administration would spearhead an economic development plan in the enclave that would “supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area.”
“The US will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it, too. We’ll own it,” Trump said at the White on Tuesday after talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, adding that Washington would be responsible for clearing destroyed buildings and dismantling “dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons.”
Trump said he envisioned the US taking a “long-term ownership position” over the enclave.
“This was not a decision made lightly. Everybody I’ve spoken to loves the idea of the United States owning that piece of land, developing and creating thousands of jobs with something that will be magnificent,” he said.
Trump expressed his hope that displaced Palestinians in Gaza would “go to other countries of interest with humanitarian hearts”, though he suggested Palestinians would also continue leaving there.
The US president said Gaza could become home to the “world’s people”.
“I think you will make that into an international, unbelievable place. I think the potential in the Gaza Strip is unbelievable. And I think the entire world – representatives from all over the world will be now – Palestinians also, Palestinians will live there,” he said. “Many people will live there.”
“The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it, too.” –President Donald J. Trump pic.twitter.com/aCqLl9Gwwn
— President Donald J. Trump (@POTUS) February 5, 2025
Asked if US soldiers could be sent to Gaza to maintain security, Trump said it was a possibility.
“As far as Gaza is concerned, we’ll do what is necessary. If it’s necessary, we’ll do that,” he said.
Netanyahu, who praised Trump as the “greatest friend” Israel has ever had, said the US president’s plan was worth “paying attention to” and could “change history”.
Trump’s proposals drew swift condemnation from Palestinian activists.
“He’s essentially saying that, officially US policy now is the destruction of Palestinian society, the scattering of Palestinians to neighboring countries, and on top of that for US to come and own Palestinian territory indefinitely,” political analysts Omar Baddar told Al Jazeera.
“I don’t know what planet we are living on where these statements are coming out of the president of the United States.”
Abed Ayoub, executive director at the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), described Trump’s proposal as “terrifying” and “insane.”
“It would go against all norms and international law. This isn’t something that would be permitted to happen,” Ayoub told Al Jazeera.
“But at this point, you’ve got to ask yourself if you look at the past year and a half: how much does the international community, including Israel, really care about international law and norms?”
Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, a Palestinian-American who is a resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, said that Gaza was not a “real estate development project for the United States government to own or take over.”
“Gaza belongs to the Palestinian people. Distracting from the need to initiate political transformation to ensure that Hamas doesn’t remain in control is unnecessary and harmful,” Alkhatib said on X.
Democratic lawmakers also cast doubt on Trump’s proposal.
“I have news for you – we aren’t taking over Gaza. But the media and the chattering class will focus on it for a few days and Trump will have succeeded in distracting everyone from the real story – the billionaires seizing government to steal from regular people,” Chris Murphy, a Democratic Senator for Connecticut, said on X.
Trump’s extraordinary proposal is all but certain to roil the next round negotiations to extend the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Trump has repeatedly taken credit for the ceasefire deal, which came into effect on January 19, the day before he took office.
He blamed the foreign policy of his predecessor Joe Biden for allowing the war in Gaza to begin in the first place.
“Nobody did anything for four years except in the negative,” Trump said at one point during his news conference, referring to Biden’s term in office. “Unfortunately, the weakness and incompetence of those past four years [caused] the grave damage around the globe.”
Still, Trump has cast doubt on the strength of the ceasefire and whether it would last.
“The strikes could start tomorrow,” Trump said on Tuesday. “There’s not a lot left to strike.”
The initial 42-day truce, which will see the release of 33 Israeli captives and nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, expires on March 1.
On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Palestinian group Hamas said that negotiations for a second phase of the ceasefire had begun. If agreed to, that phase would see the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and the freeing of all captives.
But Trump lashed out at the group in his remarks, praising Israel’s efforts to cut off resources to Gaza.
