Trump restates his take over plan, says Israel would handover Gaza after fighting

US President Donald Trump on Thursday (Feb 5) said that Israel would turn over the Gaza Strip to America at the conclusion of fighting, adding that no US soldiers would be needed. 

In a post on Truth Social, the US president said that the Palestinians would have a chance to be happy, safe, and free. 

“The Palestinians, people like Chuck Schumer, would have already been resettled in far safer and more beautiful communities, with new and modern homes, in the region. They would actually have a chance to be happy, safe, and free,” Trump posted. 

Also read: Israel to offer exit options for Gazans; Defence Minister says they can go to countries that ‘levelled false claims’ against Tel Aviv

He added that the US would slowly and carefully begin the construction of what would become one of the greatest and most spectacular developments. 

“No soldiers by the US would be needed! Stability for the region would reign!!!,” he added.

Trump, in a White House news conference on Tuesday along with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, proposed “long-term ownership” of Gaza by the United States, days after another shock suggestion, that the territory’s residents should move to Jordan or Egypt.

Also read: After US, Israel announces departure from ‘anti-semitic’ UN Human Rights Council

Trump also floated the idea of creating “the Riviera of the Middle East” in a rebuilt Gaza, but for Palestinians, the most crucial part of his proposal had to do with their feared displacement.

Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz told its military to prepare a plan to “allow Gaza who wishes to leave to do so.” 

Katz said Gazans should have “freedom of movement and migration” and countries critical of Israel’s war with Hamas were “obligated” to take them in.

Also read: Not ‘hostile’: Trump administration backtracks from US President’s Gaza ‘take over’ remark

“I have instructed the IDF (military) to prepare a plan to enable voluntary departure for Gaza residents,” he said.

He added that the plan could help Gaza citizens who wish to leave their home country to “integrate optimally in host countries, and also facilitate the advancement of reconstruction programs for a demilitarised, threat-free Gaza”.

(With inputs from agencies)