US President Donald Trump suggested during a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House that the United States will take over the Gaza Strip and own it. Trump stated that the US will "level the site" and create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area, aiming to turn Gaza into the "Riviera of the Middle East."
"The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it, too," Trump said Tuesday evening. "We'll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous, unexplored bombs and other weapons on the site."
"Level the site and get rid of the destroyed buildings, level it out, create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area," he said. "Do a real job. Do something different. Just can't go back. If you go back, it's going to end up the same way it has for 100 years."
The US President suggested that Palestinians should be temporarily relocated to other areas, with the US helping to find "numerous pieces of land" in Egypt, Jordan and other nearby countries, for them to build new homes, and that the Gaza Strip could be developed into a thriving economic zone.
When asked about taking over the Gaza Strip, Trump said he could see the U.S. in a "long-term ownership position" of the piece of land, which would likely bring stability to the Middle East.
"I see it bringing great stability to that part of the Middle East and maybe the entire Middle East," Trump said. "And everybody I've spoken to – 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 in a really magnificent area that nobody would know. Nobody can look because all they see is death and destruction and rubble."
Prime Minister Netanyahu praised Trump's "outside the box" thinking and stated that Israel must "finish the job in Gaza" to ensure lasting peace in the region.
Netanyahu, when also asked about the Gaza Strip, reiterated to the media that he has three goals, one of which is to "make sure that Gaza never poses a threat to Israel again."
"President Trump is taking it to a much higher level," the Israeli leader said. "He sees a different – he sees a different future for that piece of land that has been the focus of so much terrorism, so much, so many attacks against us, so many, so many trials and so many tribulations. He has a different idea, and I think it's worth paying attention to this."
The pair's White House meeting included discussing the current ceasefire deal between Israel and the Hamas terror group and its future, Iran's grip on the Middle East and resettling Gaza residents in other nations.
"In our meetings today, the prime minister and I focused on the future, discussing how we can work together to ensure Hamas is eliminated and ultimately restore peace to a very troubled region," Trump said during the press conference. "It's been troubled, but what's happened in the last four years has not been good."
Trump said the Gaza Strip has become "a symbol of death and destruction for so many decades and so bad for the people anywhere near it."
"It should not go through a process of rebuilding and occupation by the same people that have really stood there and fought for it and lived there and died there and lived a miserable existence there," he added.
Netanyahu lauded Trump's tenacity and ability "to think outside the box" during his comments to the press.
"Your willingness to puncture conventional thinking, thinking that has failed time and time and time again, your willingness to think outside the box with fresh ideas, will help us achieve all these goals," he said. "And I've seen you do this many times. You cut to the chase. You see things others refuse to see. You say things others refuse to say, you know. And after the jaws drop, people scratch their heads, and they say, 'You know, he's right.'"
"Israel's victory will be America's victory," Netanyahu said. "We will not only win the war working together, we will win the peace. With your leadership, Mr. President, and our partnership, I believe that we will forge a brilliant future for our region and bring our great alliance to even greater heights."
The proposal has sparked strong reactions from Palestinian militant groups, including Hamas, and has been criticized by many as unrealistic and potentially destabilizing for the region.
However other international security experts argue that Trump's plan, while it may at first appear unworkable, may in fact be one of the best 'America first' realistic plan to end Israel and Hamas' protraction of the decadesold middle east conflict.
U.S. taking the Gaza strip from Israeli military and Hamas, experts argue, eliminates the security threat that Israel uses as an excuse to prolong the occupation, while at the same time giving Palestininas a chance to live peaceful and prosperous lives.
