Donald Trump insists Gaza displacement will be permanent

US President Donald Trump has ruled out the possibility of displaced Palestinians returning to Gaza, The National reported on February 10th.

This contradicts previous claims from his administration that relocation would be temporary.

In an interview with Fox News, Trump said that Palestinians from Gaza would be resettled permanently elsewhere rather than returning.

“We will build communities for the 1.9 million people, safe communities, could be five, six, could be two, but we will build safe communities a little bit away from where they are, where all of this danger is,” Trump said.

When asked whether those displaced would be allowed to return, Trump said: “No, they would not, because they are going to have much better housing… I am talking about building a permanent place for them.”

Trump first raised the idea of relocating Gaza’s population last week during a visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington. He proposed redeveloping the enclave into the “Riviera of the Middle East.”

The comments follow a 16-month war that has devastated Gaza, with Israeli strikes reducing much of the territory to rubble and killing more than 48,000 Palestinians – most of whom are women and children. Trump has estimated that rebuilding Gaza would take “10 to 15 years.”

Arab leaders, Palestinians, and the United Nations have condemned the proposal. But Trump maintained that regional countries should accept those displaced from Gaza, naming Egypt and Jordan as potential hosts.

“I think I could make a deal with Jordan, I think I could make a deal with Egypt,” he said, suggesting that Washington’s financial aid to both countries could be used as leverage. “We give them billions and billions of dollars a year.”

Both Jordan and Egypt have rejected the prospect of taking in Palestinian refugees. Jordan’s King Abdullah II met Trump at the White House on February 11th. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi is also due to visit Washington next week, although the trip has yet to be officially announced.

Netanyahu has also proposed the creation of a Palestinian state on Saudi Arabian land, the Middle East Eye reported on February 7th. Saudi Arabia vehemently rejected his suggestion and reiterated that normalisation with Israel was conditional upon the creation of a Palestinian state.

The National, Middle East Eye