Trump’s suggestion the US ‘take over’ the Gaza Strip is rejected by allies and adversaries alike

By DAVID RISING and JON GAMBRELL, Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — President Donald Trump’s connection that the United States “take over” the Gaza Strip and permanently resettle its Palestinian residents was swiftly rejected and denounced connected Wednesday by American allies and adversaries alike.

Trump’s proposition came astatine a White House quality league with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who smiled respective times arsenic the president elaborate a program to physique caller settlements for Palestinians extracurricular the Gaza Strip, and for the U.S. to instrumentality “ownership” successful redeveloping the war-torn territory into “the Riviera of the Middle East.”

“The U.S. volition instrumentality implicit the Gaza Strip, and we volition bash a occupation with it too,” Trump said. “We’ll ain it and beryllium liable for dismantling each of the unsafe unexploded bombs and different weapons connected the site, level the site, and get escaped of the destroyed buildings, level it out, make an economical improvement that volition proviso unlimited numbers of jobs.”

The comments came amid a fragile ceasefire betwixt Israel and Hamas, during which the militant radical has been turning implicit hostages successful speech for the merchandise of prisoners held by Israel.

Egypt, Jordan and different American allies successful the Middle East person already rejected the thought of relocating much than 2 cardinal Palestinians from Gaza elsewhere successful the region. Following Trump’s remarks, Egypt’s Foreign Ministry issued a connection stressing the request for rebuilding “without moving the Palestinians retired of the Gaza Strip.”

Saudi Arabia, an important American ally, weighed successful rapidly connected Trump’s expanded thought to instrumentality implicit the Gaza Strip successful a sharply worded statement, noting that its agelong telephone for an autarkic Palestinian authorities was a “firm, steadfast and unwavering position.”

“The kingdom of Saudi Arabia besides stresses what it had antecedently announced regarding its implicit rejection of infringement connected the morganatic rights of the Palestinian people, whether done Israeli colony policies, annexation of Palestinian lands oregon efforts to displace the Palestinian radical from their land,” the connection said.

Similarly, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters successful Canberra, Australia, that his state has agelong supported a two-state solution successful the Middle East and that thing had changed.

“Australia’s presumption is the aforesaid arsenic it was this morning, arsenic it was past year, arsenic it was 10 years ago,” helium said.

Trump has already made waves — and upset longtime allies — suggesting the purchase of Greenland, the annexation of Canada and the possible takeover of the Panama Canal. It was not instantly wide whether the thought of taking implicit the Gaza Strip was a good thought retired plan, oregon an opening gambit successful negotiations.

Albanese, whose state is 1 of the strongest American allies successful the Asia-Pacific region, seemed frustrated to adjacent beryllium asked astir the Gaza plan, underscoring that his policies “will beryllium consistent.”

“I’m not going to, arsenic Australia’s premier minister, springiness a regular commentary connected statements by the U.S. president,” helium said. “My occupation is to enactment Australia’s position.”

New Zealand’s Foreign Ministry said successful a connection that its “long-standing enactment for a two-state solution is connected the record” and added that it, too, “won’t beryllium commenting connected each connection that is enactment forward.”

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian besides underscored Beijing’s longstanding enactment for a two-state solution.

“We reason the forced relocation of radical successful Gaza and anticipation that the applicable parties volition instrumentality the ceasefire and post-war governance successful Gaza arsenic an accidental to propulsion the Palestinian contented backmost connected the close track,” helium said.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians are returning to bluish Gaza for the archetypal clip since Israel sealed it disconnected successful the aboriginal weeks of the warfare with Hamas. Under a ceasefire agreement, they were allowed to participate via 2 north-south highways crossing the Netzarim corridor, an Israeli subject zone. (AP Digital Embed)

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told state-run Anadolu Agency that Trump’s connection connected “deportations from Gaza is not thing that either the portion oregon we would accept.”

“Even reasoning astir it, successful my opinion, is incorrect and absurd,” Fidan said.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called for the United Nations to “protect the Palestinian radical and their inalienable rights,” saying that what Trump wanted to bash would beryllium “a superior usurpation of planetary law.”

Hamas, which sparked the warfare with its Oct. 7, 2023, violent onslaught connected Israel, said Trump’s connection was a “recipe for creating chaos and hostility successful the region.”

“Instead of holding the Zionist concern accountable for the transgression of genocide and displacement, it is being rewarded, not punished,” the militant radical said successful a statement.

In its onslaught connected Israel, Hamas killed immoderate 1,200 people, chiefly civilians, and took astir 250 hostages.

Hamas has been designated arsenic a violent enactment by the United States, Canada and the European Union.

Israel’s ensuing aerial and crushed warfare has has killed implicit 47,000 Palestinians, much than fractional of them women and children, according to section wellness authorities who bash not accidental however galore of the dormant were fighters. The warfare has near ample parts of respective cities successful ruins and displaced astir 90% of Gaza’s colonisation of 2.3 cardinal people.

In the U.S., absorption politicians rapidly rejected Trump’s idea, with Democratic Sen. Chris Coons calling his comments “offensive and insane and unsafe and foolish.”

The thought “risks the remainder of the satellite reasoning that we are an unbalanced and unreliable spouse due to the fact that our president makes insane proposals,” Coons said, noting the irony of the connection coming soon aft Trump had moved to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development.

“Why connected world would we wantonness decades of well-established humanitarian programs astir the world, and present motorboat into 1 of the world’s top humanitarian challenges?” Coons said.

Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a Palestinian American subordinate of Congress from Michigan, accused Trump successful a societal media station of “openly calling for taste cleansing” with the thought of resettling Gaza’s full population.

Rising reported from Bangkok. Associated Press writers Zeke Miller successful Washington, Suzan Fraser successful Ankara, Turkey, Simina Mistreanu successful Taipei, Taiwan, Josef Federman successful Jerusalem, Samy Magdy successful Cairo and Charlotte McLay successful Wellington, New Zealand, contributed to this report.