President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met at the White House on Monday and reaffirmed their desire for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza, both claiming that there are other countries willing to take in the Palestinian population.
Trump also said it would be a “good thing” for the US to take over and control Gaza. “Well, you know how I feel about the Gaza Strip. I think it’s an incredible piece of important real estate,” he told reporters at the Oval Office. “I think it’s something we would be involved in, you know, having a peace force like the United States there, controlling and owning the Gaza Strip, would be a good thing.”
The president said that if the Palestinians are “moved around to different countries,” it would create a “freedom zone” in Gaza. “You call it the freedom zone, a free zone, a zone where people aren’t going to be killed every day,” he said.
Netanyahu framed the idea of expelling Palestinians from Gaza as voluntary. “We’re committed to getting all the hostages out, but also eliminating the evil tyranny of Hamas in Gaza and enabling the people of Gaza to freely make a choice to go wherever they want,” he said.
Netanyahu said that he and President Trump discussed countries that are willing to take in Palestinians from Gaza, but he didn’t mention any by name. “I think this is the right thing to do. It’s going to take years to rebuild Gaza; in the meantime, people can have an option. The president has a vision. Countries are responding to that vision, and we’re working on it,” he said.
Netanyahu’s visit to the US came amid Israel’s constant attacks on the Gaza Strip, which have killed more than 1,300 Palestinians since the resumption of the genocidal war on March 18. Since March 2, Israel has imposed a total blockade on Gaza, cutting off the entry of humanitarian aid and all other goods.
The Israeli military has also expanded its ground assault and is seizing more land in Gaza as part of Netanyahu’s plans for a full Israeli military occupation. The IDF now controls more than 50% of Gaza’s territory.
President Trump has fully supported the Israeli escalations in Gaza and claimed on Monday that Netanyahu was working to free the Israeli hostages despite his refusal to fully implement the ceasefire deal signed in January that would have achieved that goal. Israel has also rejected Hamas’s offer to release all the Israeli captives at once in exchange for a permanent truce.
