President Donald Trump wants the US to take over the Gaza Strip and develop it economically. How realistic this is is questionable - in any case, this move is unlikely to calm sentiment in the crisis region, the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" reported, BTA writes in its press review.
For several days, numerous photos and videos have shown tens of thousands of Palestinians returning on foot to the northern part of the Gaza Strip. But Donald Trump has another idea. "The US will take over the Gaza Strip", the US president declared to general astonishment last night in Washington, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu standing next to him, the first state guest since his inauguration. "I see a long-term ownership position and I see that this will bring great stability to this part of the Middle East, and perhaps to the entire Middle East," the Süddeutsche Zeitung reported.
Trump is proposing that the United States rebuild the Gaza Strip. At the same time, the two million residents of the largely destroyed area should get "a good, fresh, beautiful piece of land." Where and how, like much of this fantasy, is unclear, the newspaper said. They will likely be resettled by neighbors such as Egypt and Jordan, which Trump has recently hinted at. "I don't think people should go back to Gaza," he said at a press conference with Netanyahu at the White House. "They live like hell, no one could live there." The only reason they have returned so far is that "they have no alternative." - that's how he sees it.
V. "The Washington Post" also dwells on Trump's idea that the US should "take over" Gaza and permanently evict its residents.
According to the newspaper, this is the first indication of Trump's approach to the conflict, which is sure to inflame tensions in the region, given the history of the displacement of Palestinians from their territory.
President Donald Trump has proposed that the United States take "long-term ownership" of the Gaza Strip, the "Washington Post" adds, by moving its residents to "a nice, fresh, beautiful piece of land" in another country.
"The Washington Post" adds that after expressing his desire to claim Greenland, Canada and the Panama Canal, President Donald Trump stunned the White House on Tuesday night, where he proposed the occupation and reconstruction of the war-torn Gaza Strip under U.S. leadership. A smiling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, standing next to Trump, praised the president for his "willingness to think outside the box."
Among the many questions hanging over Trump's vision of transforming the Gaza Strip into a glittering "Middle Eastern Riviera" is what will happen to its 2 million Palestinians, traumatized by months of war, the Washington Post notes. Trump has been adamant that they must leave the territory, and he seems to think that many of them will not return - or even should not. The United States, in Trump's own words, will take a "long-term ownership" position in Gaza.
Before Trump's call with Netanyahu, a joint statement by Arab states rejected White House demands that Egypt and Jordan take in Gaza's population. Now they are left to grapple with Trump's desire to do what could amount to ethnic cleansing of the territory, a move that Trump has suggested could be enforced by the presence of American troops, the newspaper noted.
"Trump's Dreams of "Ownership" of Gaza Add to His List of Imperial Aspirations" is the headline under which the "New York Times" echoes what the American president said.
Once a critic of nation-building, the president now plans to conquer the Middle Eastern enclave, expel the Palestinian population and turn it into the “Riviera of the Middle East“, the newspaper said.
"The New York Times" described Trump's delight as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised his "willingness to think outside the box". But when it came to Gaza, Trump's thinking on Tuesday was so unconventional that it was unclear whether he even knew he had standards, the newspaper noted.
Trump's announcement that he intended to take control of Gaza, evict the Palestinian population and turn the coastal enclave into the "Riviera of the Middle East" was something he might have said to get publicity on "The Howard Stern Show" a decade or two ago. Provocative, intriguing, unusual, outrageous - and not at all presidential, the "New York Times" added.
But now, in his second term in the White House, Trump has floated increasingly bold ideas for redrawing the world map in the tradition of 19th-century imperialism. First he bought Greenland, then annexed Canada, reclaimed the Panama Canal, and renamed the Gulf of Mexico. Now he plans to take over a devastated war zone in the Middle East that no other American president would want.
Never mind that he can’t point to a single legal authority that would allow the United States to unilaterally establish control over foreign territory, or that forcibly displacing an entire population would be a violation of international law. Never mind that resettling 2 million Palestinians would be a huge logistical and financial challenge, not to mention the political blowback. Never mind that it would certainly require many thousands of American troops and would likely spark an even more violent conflict, the New York Times added.
Trump's proposal would break with decades of US policy and spark outrage in the Arab world, where Washington's allies have long warned against the forced displacement of Palestinians, the Financial Times said.
Egypt and Jordan have already rejected Trump's plans to move Palestinians out of Gaza after the US president said last month it was time to "clear" the enclave.
Arabs see such moves as reminiscent of those in 1948, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forced from their homes or fled during the fighting that accompanied the creation of Israel. Palestinians call this period the Nakba, or catastrophe.
The forced displacement of Palestinians will also alarm US Western allies who have long supported a two-state solution to the long-running Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the Financial Times said.
But on Tuesday, Trump expressed increased commitment, describing Gaza as a "place of destruction" and saying he expected Cairo and Amman, which receive large amounts of US aid, to take in the Palestinians.
The Financial Times noted that Arab and European powers are hoping the fragile ceasefire and hostage agreement between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas will to bring about a final end to the war, allowing the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip to begin.
But, the newspaper added, Trump said: "If we can find the right piece of land or multiple pieces of land and build them really nice places with a lot of money in the area . I think that would be much better than going back to Gaza, which has only had decades and decades of death.
The first reaction to Trump's idea came from Saudi Arabia, which said it would not establish ties with Israel without the creation of a Palestinian state, the Guardian reported.
Saudi Arabia has said it will not establish ties with Israel without the creation of a Palestinian state, contradicting President Donald Trump's claim that Riyadh was not asking for a Palestinian homeland when he said the US wanted to take over the Gaza Strip.
Saudi Arabia rejects any attempts to displace Palestinians from their land, the Saudi foreign ministry said in a statement today, adding that its position on the Palestinians is non-negotiable.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has reaffirmed the kingdom's position in a "clear and unequivocal manner" that does not allow for any interpretation under any circumstances, the statement said, adding "The Guardian".