U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday he wants his country to take ownership of the Gaza Strip and redevelop it after Palestinians are displaced elsewhere.

“We will own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site,” Trump said at the start of a joint news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“I do see a long-term ownership position,” Trump said when asked about the U.S. controlling the territory for an extended period, adding that he is not ruling out sending U.S. troops in to secure Gaza.

…

Trump’s comments came hours after he suggested that displaced Palestinians in Gaza be “permanently” resettled outside the war-torn territory.

“You can’t live in Gaza right now. I think we need another location,” Trump said earlier Tuesday.

“I think it should be a location that’s going to make people happy. You look over the decades, it’s all death in Gaza. This has been happening for years. It’s all death. If we can get a beautiful area to resettle people, permanently, in nice homes where they can be happy and not be shot and not be killed and not be knifed to death like what’s happening in Gaza.”

Trump has previously called on Jordan, Egypt and other Arab countries to take in Palestinians temporarily while Gaza is reconstructed after the devastating war between Hamas and Israel, which was paused in January by a ceasefire. Tuesday was the first time he has publicly floated making that resettlement permanent.

  • melp@beehaw.orgEnglish
    2·
    5 hours ago

    My only point, respectfully, is 800,000 people are dead. What was anyone in leadership doing to stop it and to prevent it from happening any further?

    Let me be clear, I was for swing states voting for Harris because I am fully aware of how dictatorships roll but voting for Harris wasn’t going to stop the dictatorship from rolling. It was on the way and going to roll. If Harris had won, it would’ve been just a little bit more down the road. But the cop cities were and are being built. The police indemnity is already in place and growing. The Pal protestors and the orgs for peace were already being legislated as terrorist orgs. The billionaires and democratic mayors were already sicking police and fascist mobs on the protestors. Bombs were still being sent to kill more than 800,000 people. Brown people were still being gunned down and mistreated by the state sanctioned slave catchers in the US. Muslim Americans were still seeing a crazy uptick in violence against their communities and the Democrats were barring them from speaking at the DNC.

    In some people’s purview, shit wasn’t good under the Dems. Maybe better for me? For you? Sure. I’ve had many black internetizens say “Oh? It’s finally bad for YOU. It’s been bad for us the entire time.” Even my Mexican co-workers here in Los Angeles shrug their shoulders and say it’s not new for them.

    But you’re right. It’s not good. I don’t condone it. Most of us don’t. But I also don’t condone feeding into this wedge argument pitting working class against working class when all anyone wanted was for 800,000 people to not be dead, for politicians to hold slave catchers accountable, and for money and jobs to come back to this place.