The suggestion that the US could 'take over' and 'own' the devastated Gaza Strip was met with rebukes from the Middle East and beyond.
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US President Donald Trump's announcement on Tuesday that the US could "take over" the Gaza Strip after its population were permanently displaced to other countries has been condemned across the Middle East and beyond — and celebrated by members of Israel's cabinet.
At a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington, Trump declared that "The US will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too."
He said that Palestinians "can't live in Gaza right now" and that the enclave — which has been devastated by 15 months of war between Israel and Hamas — could be turned into the "Riviera of the Middle East".
Trump said the decision was not "made lightly" and claimed that he had high-level support from unnamed leaders with whom he has supposedly discussed the idea.
The French foreign ministry released a statement opposing any forced displacement of Palestinians, calling it a "violation of international law," an obstacle to a two-state solution, and a "major destabilising factor" for Egypt and Jordan — two countries Trump proposed could accept refugees fleeing from Gaza.
The two-state solution is a proposed approach to solving the conflict between Israel and Palestinian via the creation of a Palestinian state next to Israel.
The European Union has repeatedly reaffirmed its commitment to the concept, as well as the majority of its 27 member states. On Wednesday, the Polish foreign ministry also said recognising Palestine was crucial to peace in the region.
Trump said he wasn't against a two-state solution, which has also been the official foreign policy approach of the US for decades.
"It doesn’t mean anything about a two-state or one state or any other state," the US president said, adding that the US wants to give people "a chance at life," because the Gaza Strip has been a "hellhole for people living there".
“They have never had a chance at life because the Gaza Strip has been a hellhole for people living there. It’s been horrible,” Trump said.
In the Middle East, Riyad Mansour, leader of the Palestinian delegation to the United Nations, said that Palestinians in Gaza should be allowed to relocate to their "original homes" in Israel instead of being relocated to other countries, as per Trump's suggestion.
“For those who want to send” Gazans “to a happy ‘nice place’, “let them go back, you know, to their original homes inside Israel," Mansour said. "There are nice places there, and they will be happy to return to these places.”
The foreign ministry of Saudi Arabia issued a statement saying it rejected any attempt to displace Palestinians from their homeland, and that it would not establish ties with Israel without a Palestinian state.
"Saudi Arabia will continue its relentless efforts to establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and will not establish diplomatic relations with Israel without that," the statement said.
It's position was "non-negotiable", the statement added.
On Saturday, a group of Arab nations including Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia rejected an earlier suggestion from Trump that Gazans be moved to neighbouring countries, writing in a joint statement that any plan encouraging the transfer or "uprooting" of Palestinians would threaten stability in the region.
At a press conference on Wednesday, meanwhile, a spokesperson for China's foreign ministry said Beijing was opposed to the "forced transfer" of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, adding it has "always maintained that Palestinian rule over Palestinians is the basic principle of the postwar governance of Gaza".
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his government continues to support a two-state solution in the Middle East "where both Israelis and Palestinians could live in peace and security".
“Australia's position is the same as it was this morning, as it was last year," Albanese told a news conference.”
In Israel, Trump's suggestion was met with praise from far-right members of Netanyahu's cabinet who expressed fierce disapproval of a fragile ceasefire deal that took hold between Israel and Hamas in January.
Israel's former National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir — who resigned from Israel's government in protest to the ceasefire deal — posted on social media, "Donald, this looks like the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
Ben Gvir also told Israeli radio that he return to Netanyahu's ruling coalition was more likely in the aftermath of Trump's proposal.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, thanked Trump in Hebrew in a post on X where he proclaimed the news "even better and even better”, adding emojis of Israeli and US flags.
For his part, Netanyahu described Trump as the "greatest friend Israel has ever had in the White House" and praised him for "thinking outside the box with fresh ideas".