‘We’ll Own It:’ Trump Backs American Control of Gaza, Which He Vows To Transform Into the ‘Riviera of the Middle East’

President Trump’s vision of American control of the Gaza Strip could amount to a tectonic shift in the future of the Middle East.“We’ll own it,” and “level it,” the 47th president announced with respect to Gaza to a room full of reporters at a press conference with Prime Minister Netanyahu. The Israeli premier is the first head of government to visit Mr. Trump during his second term in office. The trip comes as a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel enters a new and precarious phase. Mr. Trump vowed that “The US will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too.” He added that Washington would “be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site.” The development plan would, in the president’s telling, “supply unlimited numbers of jobs.” “How many people are you thinking need to leave Gaza?” one reporter asked him.“All of them,” Trump replied. “Probably a million seven, maybe a million eight. They’ll be settled in areas where they can live a beautiful life and not be worried about dying every day.”The president reckons that if the Palestinians continue to inhabit Gaza, “it’s going to end up the same way it has for 100 years.” Israel conquered Gaza in 1967, and withdrew its citizens and soldiers from the territory in 2005. Hamas took control in 2006. The current war began when the terrorist group attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, murdering more than 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages. At Tuesday evening’s press conference, Mr. Trump mused that Gaza, which enjoys a long beach on the Mediterranean, could one day amount to “the Riviera of the Middle East, this could be something that could be so … magnificent.” He stressed that “this is not for Israel. This is for everybody in the Middle East. Arabs, Muslims, this is for everybody. You have to learn from history. You can’t keep doing the same mistake over and over again. Gaza is a hellhole right now.”Mr. Netanyahu turned to the president and ventured that “your willingness to puncture conventional thinking, thinking that has failed time and time and time again, your willingness to think outside the box with fresh ideas will help us achieve all these goals.” Mr. Trump, when asked who would live in Gaza after its reconstruction, explained that it would be “the world’s people.”The leader of the Jewish state, who appeared to be in good spirits during the press conference, reflected that when it comes to the future of Gaza “President Trump is taking it to a much higher level. He sees a different … future for that piece of land that has been the focus of so much terrorism, so much so many attacks against us, so many, so many trials and so many tribulations.” Mr. Trump disclosed that, “Everybody I have spoken to loves the idea of the United States owning that piece of land, developing and creating thousands of jobs with something that will be magnificent in a really magnificent area that nobody would know.” The president proposed that Palestinians could be relocated to countries like Egypt, Jordan, and other “countries of interest with humanitarian hearts.” He also suggested that American troops could be involved in the effort.When Mr. Trump was asked whether he would support Israel annexing the West Bank, he said his administration planned on “making an announcement” on the issue within the next month.

‘We’ll Own It:’ Trump Backs American Control of Gaza, Which He Vows To Transform Into the ‘Riviera of the Middle East’

‘We’ll Own It:’ Trump Backs American Control of Gaza, Which He Vows To Transform Into the ‘Riviera of the Middle East’

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