President Donald Trump said Palestinians in Gaza would not have a right to return under his plan for US "ownership" of the war-torn territory.
His statement contradicts other officials in his administration who have sought to argue the President was only calling for the temporary relocation of its population.
Less than a week after he floated his plan for the US to take control of Gaza and turn it into "the Riviera of the Middle East," Mr Trump told FOX News that Palestinians in Gaza wouldn’t have a right to return to the territory.
"We'll build safe communities, a little bit away from where they are, where all of this danger is," Mr Trump said.
“In the meantime, I would own this. Think of it as a real estate development for the future. It would be a beautiful piece of land. No big money spent."
Earlier on Sunday, Trump said it was a “big mistake” for tens of thousands of Palestinians to be allowed to return home after being displaced by more than a year of bombardment from Israeli forces, adding: “We don’t want Hamas going back.”
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One as he travelled to the Super Bowl, Trump also said he could allow sections of the war-ravaged land to be rebuilt by other states in the Middle East.
He said: “Think of it as a big real estate site, and the United States is going to own it and we’ll slowly — very slowly, we’re in no rush — develop it.
“We’re going to bring stability to the Middle East soon.”
Trump’s plans have been condemned by leaders in the Middle East, Europe and Asia.
Saudi Arabia, a key ally of the US, has flatly rejected Trump's Gaza plan.
Jordan's King Abdullah plans to tell Trump during their planned February 11 meeting in Washington that the proposal is a recipe for radicalism that will spread chaos through the Middle East and jeopardise the kingdom's peace with Israel, Reuters reported earlier this week.
After Mr Trump's initial comments last week, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt and secretary of state Marco Rubio respectfully insisted that Mr Trump only wanted Palestinians relocated from Gaza "temporarily" and for an "interim" period to allow for debris removal and reconstruction.
Mr Trump last week did not rule out deploying US troops to help secure the territory but at the same time insisted no US funds would go to pay for the reconstruction of Gaza, raising fundamental questions about the nature of his plan.
