Middle East crisis live: White House walks back Trump's Gaza ‘takeover' comments in face of widespread international anger
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Israeli defence minister Israel Katz has ordered the army on Thursday to prepare a plan to allow for the departure of Gaza residents from the strip, Israeli media reported, according to Reuters.
The instruction follows US President Donald Trump's announcement that the US plans to take over Gaza and resettle the Palestinians living there, prompting widespread anger and rejection including from regional allies. Rights groups have condemned the suggestion as ethnic cleansing.
Katz is quoted as welcoming Trump's 'courageous plan, which could enable a wide swath of the population in Gaza to leave to various places around the world.'
'Gaza's residents should be allowed the freedom to exit and emigrate, as is the practice anywhere around the world,' Katz said, according to The Times of Israel, adding that Trump's plan could advance 'rehabilitation plans in a demilitarized Gaza that poses no threat in the post-Hamas era, which will take many years.' Share
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that there was nothing wrong in Donald Trump's idea of displacing Palestinians from Gaza after the US president's proposal drew international criticism.
Rights groups have condemned as ethnic cleansing Trump's suggestion the previous day that Palestinians in the territory should be permanently displaced, while also proposing a US takeover of Gaza.
In an interview with Fox News, Netanyahu did not explicitly talk about Trump's idea of the US taking over the Gaza Strip but backed the idea of allowing people to leave if they wanted to.
'I mean, what's wrong with that?' he said. 'They can leave, they can then come back, they can relocate and come back. But you have to rebuild Gaza.'
Netanyahu said he did not believe Trump had suggested sending US troops to fight Hamas in Gaza or that Washington would finance rebuilding efforts.
'This is the first good idea that I've heard,' he added. 'It's a remarkable idea, and I think it should be really pursued, examined, pursued and done, because I think it will create a different future for everyone.'
Netanyahu also repeated his view that Trump is 'the greatest friend that Israel has ever had in the White House'. Share
Donald Trump's proposal for a US takeover of Gaza has been met with anger and blunt rejection from regional allies, delight from Israel's far right and a warning against 'ethnic cleansing' from the head of the UN.
The secretary general, António Guterres, told a UN meeting on Wednesday that 'it is essential to avoid any form of ethnic cleansing' after the US president said he wanted to 'own' Gaza and resettle its Palestinian residents elsewhere.
Both regional critics and supporters recognised that Trump's vision for a 'Riviera for the Middle East' would insert the US directly into the heart of one of the most volatile, long-running conflicts in the world.
Trump officials, meanwhile, appeared intent to walk back his position. Addressing the president's comments on Wednesday, the White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said it 'does not mean boots on the ground in Gaza' after Trump left a US military presence an open question on Tuesday. The secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said the Trump plan was not meant as a 'hostile move', but rather a generous gesture aimed at rebuilding.
Saudi Arabia was among the first countries to reject Trump's project to reimagine Gaza as a real-estate prospect, and perhaps the most consequential. Riyadh was quick to announce its 'unequivocal rejection' of any attempt to displace Palestinians from their land.
In other developments: Defence secretary Pete Hegseth said the Pentagon was prepared to look at 'all options' when it comes to Gaza. Hegseth made the comments on Wednesday before meeting with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, reportedly said the US president does not want to put any American troops into Gaza. 'Witkoff said that the president doesn't want to put any troops into Gaza, and that he doesn't want to spend any US money on Gaza,' the Republican senator for Missouri, Josh Hawley, said, according to the Washington Post.
Peace through strength is a concept Israel shares with the United States, Netanyahu said. 'The only way to get peace, and enduring peace, is by being very, very strong,' he said, according to a readout of the meeting. 'And with our alliance and your support, including the decision … of supplying Israel the much-needed tools for our defense, we are a lot stronger than we've ever been.'
The UN said forcible deportation of people from occupied territory is 'strictly prohibited' under international law, while Human Rights Watch said the policy would be a 'moral abomination'. Amnesty International condemned Donald Trump's comments as 'inflammatory, outrageous and shameful'. International law experts said it could amount to a war crime or crime against humanity.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Gaza was 'an integral part of the State of Palestine' and that 'we will not allow the rights of our people … to be infringed on'.
The estimated death toll in Gaza since the start of Israeli operations in the territory after the 7 October attacks reached 47,552, according to the Palestinian ministry of health on Wednesday. Share
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