President Donald Trump says the United States should take ownership of the Gaza Strip, turn it into “the Riviera of the Middle East,” by deporting 2.2 million Palestinian residents to live elsewhere.
The land grab tops off a brutal slaughter of women and children, who made up 75 percent of the 40,000 deaths since the Israeli military launched its retaliation for an October 7, 2023 terrorist attack. Six-year-old Hind Rajab, pictured above, represents the victims of the genocidal response.
Palestinians in Gaza expressed a mixture of shock, apprehension, and weariness at Trump’s proposal that the United States “take over” their homeland.
Calling for their humanity to be respected, Palestinians say permanently displacement of the territory’s 2.2 million residents would inflict more suffering on top of the immense toll Israel’s 15-month assault has had on their loved ones.
This arrogant and illegal action reveals the mob boss mentality of the wannabe American dictator, who freed more than 1,500 terrorists who violently attacked the US Capitol, pardoned a dozen other terrorists guilty of obstructing abortion clinics, and allowed the richest person in the world to access Social Security numbers and other personal secrets from the Treasury Department’s database.
Trump’s administration also violated the Constitution and the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 with a callous attempt to shutter federal assistance and grant programs that people across this country rely on but congressional Republicans show no signs of mustering courage to stand up against the celebrity tyrant.
International law prohibited Israel from claiming land conquered in war, setting the stage for multiple United Nations resolutions condemning settlements and other actions in the occupied territories of Gaza, the West Bank and Golan Heights.
Speaking alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump said the US would “take over” a depopulated Gaza and have “long-term ownership” of the Palestinian territory.
Trump’s imperialist proposal is likely to provide cover for the subsequent ethnic cleansing of Palestinians who will be forced to exit their homelands, but the world is not blind to what is going on.
Trump’s plan calls for forcing the current residents to be relocated to Jordan and Egypt, but those countries don’t want the Palestinians.
Trump’s proposal that the United States take control of the Gaza Strip and permanently displace its residents provoked a furious reaction from Palestinians and their Arab backers, and it has been rejected by several Western allies.
Democrats expressed shock, with some accusing him of threatening the stability of the entire Middle East, as Republicans heaped praise on the president for suggesting ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian enclave.
“In consequences for all sides, it’s deeply destructive – indeed, just to suggest it – threatening progress toward peace & stability, sustaining & expanding the Abraham Accords, & returning hostages,” wrote Connecticut’s US Senator Richard Blumenthal in a social media post.
“Wait what? The U.S. is going to occupy Gaza? We were promised no more endless wars. By my count we are occupying Greenland, Canada, Panama Canal, and now…Gaza?” said California Congressman Eric Swalwell.
“Palestinians aren’t going anywhere,” said Representative Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian American in Congress, who represents Michigan. “This president can only spew this fanatical bullshit because of bipartisan support in Congress for funding genocide and ethnic cleansing.”
“The pursuit for peace should be that of the Israelis and the Palestinians,” wrote libertarian-leaning US Senator Rand Paul. “I thought we voted for America First. We have no business contemplating yet another occupation to doom our treasure and spill our soldiers blood.”
The Kentucky lawmaker was perhaps the only Republican who expressed criticism of the imperialistic foreign policy scheme, which is transparently aimed at enriching Trump personally, as a real estate developer.
Turkey, a NATO member which has been a vocal critic of Israel since the war began, has criticized Trump’s proposal as “a futile exercise.”
“Neither the region nor we can accept the relocation issue. … It’s wrong to even open it to discussion,” said Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.
Saudi Arabia’s bristling response to Trump’s plan to take over Gaza reflected the anger and alarm that the American proposal has stirred in the region.
The statement noted Saudi Arabia’s “unequivocal rejection” of attempts to “displace Palestinians from their land.” It said the kingdom would “not establish diplomatic relations with Israel” without an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital — directly contradicting statements by Trump on Tuesday.
“American arrogance will not exclude anyone as long as it is met with submission from the Arabs,” wrote Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a spokesperson for the Houthi militants who launched attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea in response to the war in Gaza. “If Egypt or Jordan or both decide to challenge America, Yemen will stand with all its strength by its side, to the furthest extent and without red lines.”
The proposal would also be illegal under international law, legal experts said.
Trump referred to Gaza as the “Riviera” of the Middle East and said that the United States may send troops to to the region “if it’s necessary.”
“We’re going to take over that place, and we’re going to develop it, create thousands and thousands of jobs, and it’ll be something that the entire Middle East can be very proud of,” said Trump.
Trump signed an executive order pulling the U.S. out of the United Nations Human Rights Council and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
After Israel made accusations of terrorist links among UNRWA employees, more than a dozen international donors, including the U.S., suspended about $450 million in funding that’s desperately needed in Gaza for aid and social services, when there are dire shortages of food, water, shelter and sanitary conditions because of the Israeli military campaign.
Most Americans have yet to absorb the impact of the scheme, which may provoke unprecedented terrorism and reveal other international vulnerability.
The Trump administration is proceeding with blatantly impermissible moves as if the nation granted a mandate despite the Republican’s 49% election victory, and his actions are likely to result in entirely unwanted consequences.
“In less than three weeks, using everything from threats of war against allies to freezing foreign aid, Trump has arguably done more to weaken America’s standing in the world than in his entire first term,” wrote Nahal Toosi, Politico’s senior foreign affairs correspondent. “He has given China’s communist regime a chance to strengthen itself just as it was facing economic headwinds.”