President Trump’s intention to “take over Gaza” and move some some 1.7 million or so Palestinians from the enclave, announced last night by the Mr. Trump with Prime Minister Netanyahu by his side, is being met with both ridicule and praise in the Middle East. 

Mr. Trump’s vow to clear the area of bombs and transform Gaza into the “riviera” of the Middle East is being widely welcomed in Israel. Members of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government are hailing the American president as an “amazing” and “brave” leader. 

A member of the security cabinet, Energy Minister Eli Cohen, called the plan a “historic morning for the State of Israel, the Middle East, and the world.” The minister of culture, Micky Zohar, thanked God for the “miracle” that Mr. Trump performed for the people of Israel.

“Together, we will make the world great again,” Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, also a security cabinet member, said. 

Mr. Trump’s plan for Gaza, which could entail American boots on the ground, was also welcomed by the opposition leader Yair Lapid, who called it “a good press conference for the State of Israel.” A former defense minister, Benny Ganz, leader of the opposition party National Unity, was even more enthusiastic. He allowed that Mr. Trump presented “creative, original, and interesting thinking, which must be examined alongside the realization of the goals of the war, giving priority to the return of all the hostages.”

Leader of the ultra-orthodox Shas party, Aryeh Deri, said: “Dear President Donald Trump, you serve as a messenger of God in support of the people of Israel, and you achieve great success thanks to your unwavering stand by their side against all enemies.”

All this notwithstanding, the Palestinians Arabs, as expected, are dismissing Mr. Trump’s plan out of hand, with one Hamas official, Sami Abu Zuhri, characterizing Mr. Trump’s “remarks about his desire to control Gaza” as “ridiculous and absurd.” Reuters quotes him as warning that “any ideas of this kind are capable of igniting the region.”

Hamas spokesman Abdel Latif al-Qanou went a step further, calling it a “racist stance” that aligns with the “Israeli extreme right’s position in displacing our people and eliminating our cause.”

Meanwhile in Russia, Politburo member Mousa Abu Marzouk told the RIA state news agency that the terror group is “ready for contact and talks with the Trump administration.

“In the past, we did not object to contacts with the administration of Biden, Trump or any other US administration, and we are open to talks with all international parties,” Mr. Marzouk said. 

The Palestinian Authority’s president, Mahmoud Abbas, said that Mr. Trump’s remarks about Gaza “constitute a serious violation of international law, and there will be no peace or stability in the region without the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, within the borders of June 4, 1967, based on the two-state solution.”

Egypt and Jordan, both of which Mr. Trump has proposed to take in Palestinians from Gaza, avoided directly addressing the president’s plan, instead issuing a joint statement following a talk between President Sisi of Egypt and the Hashemite king, Abdullah II, of Jordan. 

The two leaders “reaffirmed their support for the Palestinian people’s pursuit of their legitimate rights, and the establishment of their independent, sovereign state on the 4 June 1967 lines with East Jerusalem as its capital, on the basis of the two-state solution,” a statement read. 

Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, firmly rejected the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza. “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia stresses its previously announced categorical rejection of any violation of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, whether through Israeli settlement policies, annexation of Palestinian territories, or attempts to displace the Palestinian people from their land,” the Saudi foreign ministry said in a statement. 

The People’s Republic of China also rejected Mr. Trump’s plan, with the country’s foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian saying that Beijing has “always maintained that Palestinian rule over Palestinians is the basic principle of the postwar governance of Gaza, and we are opposed to the forced transfer of the residents of Gaza.”

Australia’s prime minister, Anthony Albanese, carefully worded his reaction, saying that his position is “the same as it was this morning, as it was last year. The Australian government supports on a bipartisan basis, a two-state solution.”

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Gaza “just like the West Bank and East Jerusalem — belongs to the Palestinians” and that he “expulsion of the Palestinian civilian population from Gaza would not only be unacceptable and contrary to international law, it would also lead to new suffering and new hatred.”

Back in the U.S., Trump’s plan to take over Gaza was also met with both harsh criticism and praise. 

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said President Trump “took bold action in hopes of achieving lasting peace in Gaza,” while Secretary of State Marco Rubio reaffirmed that Washington is ready to “Make Gaza Beautiful Again.” 

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham did, however, push back on Trump’s remarks, telling Jewish Insider it was an “interesting proposal” but that “most South Carolinians would probably not be excited about sending Americans to take over Gaza. It might be problematic.”

Democratic Congresswoman Rashinda Tlaib accused Trump of “openly calling for ethnic cleansing while sitting next to a genocidal war criminal. He’s perfectly fine cutting off working Americans from federal funds while the funding to the Israeli government continues flowing.”

Democratic Senator Fetterman called it a “provocative part of the conversation, but it’s part of the conversation, and that’s where we are.”

“The Palestinians have refused, or they’ve been unwilling to deliver a government that provided security and economic development for themselves. They allowed 10/7 to occur, and now Gaza has to be rebuilt. Where are the people going to live? Where are they going to go? So it’s part of a conversation with where they’re at right now,” he said.