Donald Trump has proposed the US “take over” Gaza and “level it” after meeting Israel’s prime minister. Allies and adversaries have condemned the plan, which would be a violation of international law. Listen to our experts assess the plan on the Trump 100 podcast as you scroll.
Wednesday 5 February 2025 13:24, UK
Prime Minister’s Questions has just finished in Westminster – and as expected Sir Keir Starmer weighed in on Donald Trump’s idea to resettle Palestinians in Gaza elsewhere.
“They must be allowed home, they must be allowed to rebuild, and we should be with them in that rebuild on the way to a two-state solution,” he told MPs in the Commons.
He also said the “most important issue” at the moment is making sure the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel holds.
He was responding to a question from the leader of the Liberal Democrats, Sir Ed Davey, who criticised Trump in a post on social media earlier today.
“When we desperately need a fragile truce to hold, Trump’s ramblings on Gaza risk having the effect of a bull in a china shop,” he wrote.
“The UK needs to make clear that these proposals must be rejected, and that we support international law and a two-state solution based on 1967 borders.”
Watch Starmer at PMQs here:
By Dominic Waghorn, international affairs editor
For a man ignorant in the history and ways of the Middle East, it makes perfect sense.
The people of Gaza do not have homes to go back to, their land is a living hell and has brought them nothing but suffering.
Surely the world can get together and build them somewhere nice where they can live instead.
Donald Trump should know better than that, you might say. He is, after all, the leader of the free world and has at his disposal as many foreign policy advisers as he cares to listen to.
If he had asked them, they would have told him there are a few issues with his proposal that the people of Gaza leave and don’t go back.
Three reasons why it is unworkable
First, they regard Gaza as their home. They are fiercely proud of their heritage and their history of being there. Ask anyone who has ever been to Gaza.
Second, contrary to the US president’s claim that many countries have offered to help take them in, none has done so publicly.
In fact, Israel’s immediate neighbours Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia have all dismissed the idea out of hand.
But third, and more to the point, there is a long and dark history of Palestinians being encouraged one way or another to leave their homes never to return.
Many of those living in Gaza’s “refugee camps” are descendants of the victims of the Nakba, as they call it, or the catastrophe when during Israel’s first war of independence they had to flee homes on land that is now in Israel.
They believe they should be allowed to return to that land, which they say Israelis wrongly took from them.
Any acquiescence with another mass displacement would be a betrayal of their forefathers’ rights of return, they believe.
Emboldening far right
In the early days of the Gaza war, Israeli right-wing politicians quietly pushed the idea that maybe the world could take Gazans in, give them a better life etc.
They don’t really want to live there anyway, we were told, they’d be much better off in Michigan, or the emptier bits of Europe, or maybe Jordan and Egypt might be persuaded to take in more in return for the huge amounts of American aid they receive.
Those politicians and diplomats understand their neighbours more than Trump – or should do and should have known better. But the idea never went away.
Trump, it seems, was listening and is now advocating the idea despite all its obvious shortcomings.
That will embolden far-right Jewish extremists in the Netanyahu government who openly advocate the return of Israeli settlers to occupy Gaza. We’ve already heard praise for the plan from Itamar Ben-Gvir – see post at 946am.
But it will do nothing to bring a solution to the conflict – quite the opposite.
We heard earlier from the UK environment secretary, who told us the two-state solution is the only path to peace (see 8.55am).
Foreign secretary David Lammy has reiterated that view, telling reporters this morning “we’ve always been clear in our belief that we must see two states”.
“We must see Palestinians live and prosper in their homelands in Gaza and the West Bank,” he said at a news conference in Kyiv, where he has gone to announce £55m in aid to Ukraine.
His Spanish counterpart Jose Manuel Albares echoed his comments, telling media “I want to be very clear on this: Gaza is the land of Gazan Palestinians and they must stay in Gaza”.
France’s foreign ministry spokesman Christophe Lemoine said the country “reiterates its opposition to any forced displacement of the Palestinian population of Gaza”.
This would present a “major obstacle to the two-state solution”, he added.
Palestinians in Gaza have hit out at Donald Trump’s idea to resettle them elsewhere.
As our Middle East correspondent Alistair Bunkall said in our 7.38am post, Gazans are overwhelmingly likely to oppose Trump’s idea.
And Reuters news agency has been speaking to residents there, who’ve told them they intend to stay put.
“Trump can go to hell, with his ideas, with his money, and with his beliefs,” said Samir Abu Basel in Gaza City.
“We are going nowhere. We are not some of his assets.”
The father-of-five added: “If he wants to resolve this conflict, he should take the Israelis and put them in one of the states [in the US].
“They are the strangers, not the Palestinians. We are the owners of the land.”
Palestinians have feared suffering another “Nakba” – referring to the time when hundreds of thousands were dispossessed in the war leading to the creation of the state of Israel in 1948 – as this conflict in Gaza continued.
And now they fear another round of displacement.
“We will not leave our areas, we will not allow a second Nakba,” said Um Tamer Jamal, a 65-year-old mother of six.
“We have brought our kids up teaching them that they can’t leave their home and they can’t allow a second Nakba.”
She added: “[Trump] is crazy. We didn’t leave Gaza under the bombardment and the starvation, how does he intend to eject us? We are going nowhere.”
Watch the scene live in Rafah, southern Gaza, after Trump’s comments…
Egypt has already rejected Donald Trump’s idea that it and other neighbouring countries take in Palestinians displaced from Gaza under his mass resettlement plan – which human rights experts say would amount to ethnic cleansing.
The country’s foreign ministry has now talked about an “integrated vision” to remove rubble and rebuild Gaza.
After foreign minister Badr Abdelatty met with Palestinian prime minister Mohamad Mustafa, the department said both sides call for rebuilding to be accelerated and the delivery of aid “without moving the Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip”.
For context: Mustafa is the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, which has some control over parts of the West Bank.
More than 100,000 Palestinian refugees have fled to Egypt to escape the war in Gaza.
Donald Trump’s comments are provoking a strong reaction from US allies and adversaries alike.
Fellow NATO member Turkey is the latest to describe Trump’s idea to resettle Gazans elsewhere as “unacceptable”.
Foreign minister Hakan Fidan said past displacement of Palestinians and the settlement of Israelis in those areas is the root cause of the conflict.
“The issue of deportations from Gaza is not something that either the region or we would accept,” he told the state-run Anadolu Agency.
“Even thinking about it, in my opinion, is wrong and absurd.”
China, which has frosty relations with Washington and is embroiled in a tariff trade war with Trump, also rejected the suggestion.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said: “China has always believed that Palestinian rule is the basic principle of post-war governance in Gaza.”
He repeated Beijing’s longstanding support for a two-state solution – see our 9.16am post for more on what that entails.
This is not the first time Donald Trump has floated the idea of resettling Palestinians in Gaza elsewhere, in what human rights experts say would amount to ethnic cleansing.
These comments can’t be dismissed as off-the-cuff – as our Middle East correspondent Alistair Bunkall explains in our 7.38am post – and it isn’t the first time such comments have come from Team Trump.
Almost exactly a year ago, Trump’s son-in-law and former aide Jared Kushner made similar remarks, praising the “very valuable” potential of Gaza’s “waterfront property” and suggesting Israel should remove civilians while it “cleans up” the area.
“Gaza’s waterfront property, it could be very valuable, if people would focus on building up livelihoods,” Kushner said in a 15 February interview posted in March on the YouTube channel of a Harvard University programme.
Kushner, who has a background in real estate, now runs a private equity firm fuelled by investments from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
Responding to initial reports carrying his comments last year, he said some in the media were “dishonestly using selected parts”.
Donald Trump laid out his shock Gaza announcement at a news conference in Washington last night, alongside visiting Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Here’s a detailed rundown of what we heard – and some of the reaction.
‘We will own Gaza’
Donald Trump prompted a wave of international outrage with his announcement that the US will “take over” and “own” Gaza.
Asked on what authority the US could take control of Gaza, he did not give a clear answer, saying he saw a “long-term ownership position” which would, he claimed, bring stability to that part of the Middle East.
“We will own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site,” he said.
He said the US would “get rid of the destroyed buildings, level it out, create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area”.
What he said about Palestinians whose home is Gaza
Trump said Washington would ask other neighbouring countries to take in Palestinians displaced from Gaza. He has repeatedly asked Egypt and Jordan to do so over the last fortnight. They and other Arab states have rejected his proposal.
“Instead, we should go to other countries of interest with humanitarian hearts, and there are many of them that want to do this and build various domains that will ultimately be occupied by the 1.8 million Palestinians living in Gaza, ending the death and destruction and frankly, bad luck. This could be paid for by neighbouring countries of great wealth,” he said.
Gaza’s population before the war was 2.3 million.
Forced displacement of Gazans would be a violation of international law and would be fiercely opposed by other countries in the region and Western allies of the US. Trump’s suggestion that the people of Gaza should be “permanently resettled” has been described as an endorsement of ethnic cleansing by human rights experts.
UN experts have defined ethnic cleansing as “a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic or religious group from certain geographic areas”.
Gazans ‘only want to return home because they have no alternative’
Trump also claimed the “only reason” Gazans wanted to return was because they had no alternative.
“I don’t think people should be going back to Gaza,” he said.
“Gaza is not a place for people to be living, and the only reason they want to go back, and I believe this strongly, is because they have no alternative…
“If they had an alternative, they’d much rather not go back to Gaza and live in a beautiful alternative that’s safe.”
Will US send troops for Trump’s plan?
Asked if the US would send troops to Gaza to help facilitate his plan, Trump said: “We’ll do what is necessary. If it’s necessary, we’ll do that. We’re going to take over that piece.
“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.
He also said Gaza could become “the Riviera of the Middle East” where “the world’s people” could live.
The remarks echoed previous comments from his son-in-law Jared Kushner, who said Gaza had very valuable “waterfront property”.
What he said about two-state solution
Asked if he was still committed to a plan similar to the one he spelled out in 2020 that described a possible Palestinian state, Trump said: “Well, a lot of plans change with time.”
Asked if the plan he had suggested meant he was now opposed to a two-state solution, he said: “It doesn’t mean anything about a two-state or one state or any other state. It means that we want to have, we want to give people a chance at life.
“They have never had a chance at life because the Gaza Strip has been a hellhole for people living there. It’s been horrible.”
Claims of support from Middle East leaders
Trump suggested he had received support from other leaders in the Middle East, without providing any names of those leaders.
“This was not a decision made lightly,” he said.
“Everybody I’ve spoken to loves the idea of the United States owning that piece of land, developing and creating thousands of jobs.”
What other Middle East nations have said
Saudi Arabia said it would not establish ties with Israel without the creation of a Palestinian state, contradicting Trump’s claim that Riyadh was not demanding a Palestinian homeland.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has affirmed the kingdom’s position in “a clear and explicit manner” that does not allow for any interpretation under any circumstances, Saudi’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
As mentioned previously, Jordan and Egypt have both rejected suggestions that people in Gaza would be relocated in their countries.
What have Palestinian groups said?
Hamas has condemned Trump’s calls for Palestinians in Gaza to leave as “expulsion from their land”.
The Palestinian envoy to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, said world leaders and people should respect Palestinians’ desire to remain in Gaza.
“Our homeland is our homeland,” he said – read his comments in full in our post at 824am.
If you scroll down to our post at 7.38am, you’ll see our Middle East correspondent said Donald Trump’s comments are “red meat” to those in Israel who have long wanted to resettle Gaza.
Far-right politician Itamar Ben Gvir was quick out the blocks to praise Trump, describing the president’s idea to resettle Gazans elsewhere as the “only solution”.
In a post on social media, he said “encouraging” Gazans to migrate from the enclave was the only correct strategy, urging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to adopt this policy “immediately”.
“When I said this time and again during the war that this was the solution to Gaza, they mocked me,” he added.
“Now it is clear: this is the only solution to the Gaza problem – this is the strategy for the ‘day after’.”
Ben Gvir, who is part of a movement advocating for Jewish settlement in the territory, resigned from Netanyahu’s cabinet last month over the ceasefire deal.
After Trump’s shock proposal that the US “take over” Gaza, many countries have reaffirmed their commitment to a two-state solution – like the UK in our previous post.
But what is it?
The two-state solution long been proposed as the best hope for peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It would see an independent Palestinian state established alongside the existing one of Israel – giving both peoples their own territory.
It is the official position of the UK, US and the United Nations.
What would it look like – and who would live where?
The biggest obstacle to a two-state solution is deciding what the borders of a potential Palestinian state would be.
Many believe they should be the same ones that existed before the 1967 Six-Day War, which saw Israel occupy East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza.
Since then, increasing numbers of Israeli settlements have been established inside the West Bank, with around 600,000 Israelis now living there and in Occupied East Jerusalem.
Although these settlements are considered illegal under international law, their existence makes the territory increasingly difficult to designate as Palestinian.
The creation of Israel and the subsequent Arab-Israeli war of 1948 saw many Palestinians forced from their homes, in what is known as the Nakba, or “catastrophe” in English.
As such, the UN gave around 750,000 people refugee status, defined as people “whose normal place of residence was Palestine during the period 1 June 1946 to 15 May 1948, and who lost both home and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 conflict”.
But under the same criteria, 5.9 million Palestinians – who live in the West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem and in camps across Jordan, Lebanon and Syria – now qualify, and many would want to return to their homeland.
There would not be space for this increased number of people inside the occupied territories, meaning some would have to be resettled in Israeli territory, which Israel is unlikely to tolerate.
There are particular border difficulties with Jerusalem.
Both sides claim the ancient city as their capital. This is because of its huge historical and religious significance for both Israelis and Palestinians and the fact it is home to several holy sites in Judaism, Islam, and Christianity.
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