On Wednesday, Trump administration officials defended the president’s surprise announcement on Tuesday night that he wants the US to “take over” and “own” the Gaza Strip but appeared to walk back some aspects of the plan.
Trump made the announcement after calling for Palestinians to be removed from Gaza “permanently,” which would mean ethnic cleansing, although he later suggested some Palestinians could live there along with “people of the world” after it was rebuilt by the US.
When asked for clarification on Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “They need to be temporarily relocated out of Gaza for the rebuilding.” She said the president had made it “very clear” that he expects Egypt and Jordan to take Palestinian refugees despite their strong opposition.
Leavitt added that it was “evil” to expect Palestinians to live in Gaza under the current conditions, which were created by the US-backed Israeli bombing campaign and siege.
A plan to “temporarily” relocate Palestinians from Gaza to Arab states would still face resistance since they wouldn’t think Israel would actually let the Palestinians return. Some analysts have suggested the idea of relocating part of Gaza’s population to the West Bank or Israel’s Negev Desert during reconstruction, but that does not appear to be under consideration by the US.
When asked on Tuesday night if his plan meant that he would deploy troops to Gaza, Trump said the US would do so if “necessary,” but Leavitt said he didn’t commit to the idea.
“It’s been made very clear to the president that the United States needs to be involved in this rebuilding effort to ensure stability in the region for all people,” Leavitt said. “That does not mean boots on the ground in Gaza. That does not mean American taxpayers will be funding this effort.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who appeared to endorse Trump’s original plan on Tuesday night, also said on Wednesday that the idea was “temporary” relocation. He said the proposal “was not meant as hostile. It was meant as, I think, a very generous move — the offer to rebuild and to be in charge of the rebuilding.”
Trump’s envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, appeared to endorse the permanent removal of Palestinians from Gaza on Tuesday night, saying that a better life for the Palestinians is “not necessarily tied to the physical space that you are in today.”
On Wednesday, Witkoff reportedly told Senate Republicans that Trump “doesn’t want to put any US troops on the ground, and he doesn’t want to spend any US dollars at all.” He also said Trump had been “gestating” on the idea for some time, and other reports said it was an idea the president had been working on with his inner circle but was a surprise to many members of the administration.
National Security Advisor Mike Waltz suggested that Trump’s plan was meant to open negotiations. “The fact that nobody has a realistic solution, and he puts some very bold, fresh, new ideas out on the table, I don’t think should be criticized in any way. It’s going to bring the entire region to come up with their own solutions if they don’t like Mr. Trump’s solution,” he said.
In response to Waltz’s suggestion that regional countries should offer a solution, Grayzone reporter Aaron Mate pointed to the Arab Peace Initiative, which was first endorsed by the Arab League in 2002.
“Is Mike Waltz not aware that the Arab League has a two decade-old solution on the table? It’s called the Arab Peace Initiative: Israel gets full normalization in return for ending its occupation of the West Bank/Gaza and finally allowing a Palestinian state there, along with a “just resolution” to the refugee issue,” Maté wrote on X.
“Iran has also endorsed it. Nasrallah, before he was killed, said he wouldn’t stand in the way. The rest of the world supports it. It’s a major compromise for Palestinians, giving them just 22% of their historic homeland,” Maté added. “Only Israel and the US oppose this otherwise universally supported solution, rooted in international law and UNSC measures. If the Trump admin is looking for a bold fresh idea, look no further than dropping US-Israeli longstanding hostility to a major Arab compromise.”
Trump’s proposal was resoundingly rejected by the Arab world, including Palestinians living in Gaza, who don’t want to give up their homes even as they lie in ruin. Saudi Arabia rejected Trump’s claim that it would normalize with Israel without the establishment of a Palestinian state and said it opposed any effort to displace Palestinians.
“Saudi Arabia also reiterates its previously announced unequivocal rejection of any infringement on the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, whether through Israeli settlement policies, the annexation of Palestinian lands, or attempts to displace the Palestinian people from their land,” the Saudi Foreign Ministry said.
