The White House has appeared to backtrack on Donald Trump’s assertion that Palestinians should be permanently resettled from Gaza – as a former Israeli PM told Sky News he was “deeply doubtful” about the plan.
On Tuesday, during a visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mr Trump said: “If we can get a beautiful area to resettle people, permanently, in nice homes where they can be happy and not be shot and not be killed and not be knifed to death like what’s happening in Gaza.”
He drew global condemnation for his comments, which included: “The US will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it too. We’ll own it.”
When questioned, Mr Trump said he did envision a “long-term ownership position” and described Gaza’s future as “the Riviera of the Middle East”.
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But speaking on Wednesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt appeared to contradict Mr Trump’s words and claimed he had said it would always be temporary.
“The president has made it clear that they need to be temporarily relocated out of Gaza for the rebuilding of this effort,” she said to reporters.
She continued: “Again, it’s a demolition site right now. It’s not a liveable place for any human being. And I think it’s actually quite evil to suggest that people should live in such dire conditions.”
Ms Leavitt also added that Mr Trump “has not committed” to sending troops to Gaza – but she did not rule it out.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. Pic: AP
‘A massive row back’
Sky News US correspondent Mark Stone was at the news conference where Ms Leavitt spoke.
He said: “I think what we heard there, reading between the lines, was a massive row back.
“She said that the relocation of Palestinians from Gaza while the territory is rebuilt would be temporary, and she said the president was ‘very clear’ about that.
“Well he wasn’t very clear about that. He was very clear that it would be permanent. Indeed, he repeated this idea that they would be permanently relocated to ‘somewhere beautiful’, he said on many occasions yesterday.
“And so while she didn’t acknowledge that there was a shift in position between yesterday and today, it was implicit in everything that she said.”
‘Deeply doubtful’
Ex-Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak told Sky News he was “deeply doubtful” about the practicality of the plan.
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Ex-Israel PM: Gaza plan ‘deeply doubtful’
He said: “I cannot judge it, there are many in Israel who are really excited about it but it seems to me deeply doubtful whether it can ever fly.
“It’s probably deliberately or subconsciously used as a leverage upon the Arab leaders to shake them up and to start to think about how they can contribute to avoid the need for America to intervene. I think that’s more probable an explanation for the whole story.”
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It was not clear whether Mr Trump was serious with his proposal or simply taking an extreme position as a bargaining strategy, as he has done in the past.
While Mr Trump’s comments have thrust the politics and future of Gaza into the headlines, on the ground, nearly 16 months of Israeli bombardment has devastated the coastal enclave and killed more than 47,000 people, according to its Hamas-run health ministry.
The offensive followed the 7 October Hamas attacks in 2023, in which around 1,200 people were killed in southern Israel and about 250 people were taken hostage.
