Donald Trump wants to take over Gaza Strip: “Riviera of the Middle East”

In a surprising step, US President Donald Trump announced the “long-term” takeover of the Gaza Strip by the United States. “The United States will take control of the Gaza Strip, and we will also do a good job with it,” Trump said on Tuesday (local time) to journalists. While Trump also confirmed his demand to the Palestinians to leave the Gaza Strip, Netanyahu confidently commented on the possible normalization of relationships between his country and Saudi Arabia.

The United States would “take possession of the Gaza Strip in the long term”, Trump explained his plan at the joint press conference with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the White House. This would create “thousands of jobs” and provide “apartments for people in this area”. The United States would also “be responsible for the removal of all dangerous non -exploded bombs and other weapons in this area”.

The decision was “not made”, Trump emphasized. Other countries in the region with which he discussed the project would “love” the idea.

The US President also said that the planned US presence in the Gaza Strip was a way to bring great stability “this part of the Middle East and perhaps the entire Middle East”-and last but not least also economic development. The United States would have the opportunity to “make something very great” from the war destroyed by the war between the radical Isramic Hamas and Israel. In his view, “The Riviera of the Middle East” could be created with the reconstruction of the coastal strip.

However, Trump did not seem to have an eye on the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip when explaining his proposal. He said that the coastal strip should “not go through the same people through a process of reconstruction and the line -up through the same people who really stood there and fought for” who “lived there and have died there and have lived a miserable life there”. Instead, the two million residents of the Gaza Strip should “go to other interesting countries with a humanitarian heart”.

Even before his meeting with Netanyahu, Trump said on Tuesday that the Palestinians would “love to leave” the Gaza Strip. “If we could find the right piece of land or several pieces of land and build a few really beautiful places, (…) In my opinion it would be much better than returning to Gaza, where there was decades of death.”

Trump’s demand is not new. A few days earlier, the US President Egypt and Jordan had brought into play as recording countries for the Palestinians from the Gaza Strip-but this pointed out sharply.

On Tuesday, the Palestinian UN-Manded Rijad Mansur reacted similarly to the new Trump demand. He appealed to the heads of state and government worldwide to “respect” Palestinians’ wish for whereabouts in the Gaza Strip.

At the press conference with Netanyahu, Trump also announced an early visit to the region. “I love Israel. I will travel there and I will visit the Gaza Strip and Saudi Arabia” and “Other places in the Middle East,” said Trump. At first he did not give an exact time of his trip.

Netanyahu Pries Trump as the “best friend that Israel has ever had in the White House”. In particular, he emphasized Trump’s ability to “look outside the box”. According to him, the US President’s plan for the Gaza Strip could “change history”. It is worth “continuing to follow this path,” said Netanyahu.

The Israeli Prime Minister also expressed himself confidently with a view to normalizing the relationships between his country and Saudi Arabia. “I believe that peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia is not just feasible, I think it will come about,” said Netanyahu.

Netanyahu arrived in the White House on Tuesday. The talks should be about the agreement between Israel and Islamist Hamas about a ceasefire and the freedom of hostage in the Gaza Strip. When asked by the AFP news agency, how confident he was to overcome the second phase of the ceasefire agreement, Netanyahu said: “We will try.”

The first phase of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Islamist Hamas had come into force on January 19 after more than 15 months of war and is scheduled to take six weeks. In this current phase, Hamas and allies with it are to release a total of 33 hostages, in return 1900 Palestinian prisoners are to be released from Israeli prisons.

In the second phase, all remaining hostages are to be handed over to Israel and a final end to the Gaza War. So far, 18 hostages have been released as part of the first phase.

The war had been triggered by the unprecedented major attack of Hamas and allied Islamist groups to Israel on October 7, 2023, in which, according to Israeli information, 1210 people were killed and 251 people were delayed as hostages into the Gaza Strip. Israel then started a military offensive in the Palestinian area. According to the health authority controlled by the Hamas, which cannot be checked independently, more than 47,400 people were killed.