Closing summary
This blog will be closing shortly. Here’s a recap of the day’s developments:
A proposal by Donald Trump that the US could “take over” the Gaza Strip and that the Palestinians could live in “peace and harmony” elsewhere has sparked widespread international condemnation. Trump insisted on Wednesday that “everybody loves” his proposal.
Trump’s top diplomat, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and spokesperson, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, appeared to backtrack from his proposal that he wants a permanent relocation of Palestinians from Gaza. “The president has made it clear that they need to be temporarily relocated out of Gaza,” Leavitt said during a White House briefing. Rubio said the idea “was not meant as hostile”, describing it as a “generous move – the offer to rebuild and to be in charge of the rebuilding”.
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.
Defence secretary Pete Hegseth said the Pentagon is 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.
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 UN secretary general, António Guterres, warned against “any form of ethnic cleansing”, adding that it is “vital to stay true to the bedrock of international law”. The UN chief said that any durable peace will require a “tangible, irreversible and permanent” progress toward the two state solution as well as the establishment of an “independent Palestinian state with Gaza as an integral part”.
An EU spokesperson said Gaza is an “integral part” of a future Palestinian state, and that the bloc remains “fully committed” to a two-state solution.
UK prime minister Keir Starmer said the Palestinians “must be allowed to rebuild” and pursue a two-state solution, while the German foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, said Gaza belongs to Palestinians and their expulsion would be “unacceptable and contrary to international law”.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry rejected “any attempts to displace the Palestinians from their land” while the Egyptian foreign minister, Badr Abdelatty, expressed support for recovery projects in Gaza without Palestinians leaving the territory.
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.
Israel’s far-right former national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, who resigned last month in protest over the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, said that “encouraging” Palestinians to leave Gaza was the only correct strategy to end the war and urged the Israeli government to pursue the policy “immediately”.
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.
Updated
Australian opposition leader Peter Dutton has praised Donald Trump as a “big thinker” in response to the US president’s calls for America to take over Gaza in what would probably be a breach of international law, saying he brought “gravitas” to international affairs.
Dutton claimed Trump’s incendiary remarks could be a negotiating tactic to get other countries in the Middle East to “step up” and help rebuild the Palestinian territory devastated by Israeli bombing.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, meanwhile continued to avoid commenting directly on the situation on Thursday, saying he believed it was prudent to sometimes “sit back” and not comment on all of Trump’s claims.
Here’s more of Palestinians rejecting Trump’s call for them to vacate Gaza, via the Associated Press:
Saeed Abu Elaish’s wife, two of his daughters and two dozen others from his extended family were killed by Israeli airstrikes over the past 15 months. His house in northern Gaza was destroyed. He and surviving family now live in a tent set up in the rubble of his home.
But he says he will not be driven out, after President Donald Trump called for transferring all Palestinians from Gaza so the United States could take over the devastated territory and rebuild it for others. Rights groups said his comments were tantamount to a call for “ethnic cleansing” and forcible expulsion.
“We categorically reject and will resist any plans to deport and transfer us from our land,” he said from the Jabaliya refugee camp.
Trump’s call for depopulating Gaza has stunned Palestinians. Hundreds of thousands in the territory rushed to return to their homes – even if destroyed – as soon as they could following the ceasefire reached last month between Israel and Hamas.
Mustafa al-Gazzar was 5 years old, he said, when his family and other residents were forced to flee as Israeli forces in 1948 attacked their town of Yabneh in what is now central Israel.
Now in his 80s, he sat outside his home in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, flattened by an airstrike, and said it was unthinkable to go after surviving 15 months of war.
“You think you’ll expel me abroad and bring other people in my place? … I would rather live in my tent, under rubble,” he said. “I won’t leave. Put that in your brain.”
Updated
Al Jazeera has a dispatch from central Gaza’s Deir el-Balah with the reaction to Donald Trump’s comments that the US would “take over” Gaza and that Palestinians should leave permanently.
Wasayef Abed woke up on Wednesday to murmurs among her fellow displaced Palestinians in central Gaza’s Deir el-Balah.
The discussion was centred on United States President Donald Trump and his announcement that the US would “take over” Gaza. In Trump’s comments, made as he stood next to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu – the man responsible for the decision to devastate Gaza in Israel’s war – the US president even said that Palestinians should move from the enclave permanently.
The 36-year-old Wasayef’s reaction is one of indifference.
“I didn’t pay much attention,” she said as she made her way to check on her rain-soaked tent.
“I don’t even own a mobile phone or any means of following the news,” she added indifferently, her tired face betraying her exhaustion.
“What I do know is that my mother and I will never leave Gaza, no matter what happens. All we are waiting for now is a way to return to our destroyed home in the north.”
Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, said the US president does not want to put any American troops into Gaza.
Witkoff was on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to clarify Trump’s comments the day before, during which he did not rule out deploying US troops to the Palestinian territory.
“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.
But Witkoff did not suggest that Trump had abandoned his proposal that Gaza’s population of 2.2 million Palestinians be displaced from their land, the paper writes. It cited one senator as saying:
[Witkoff] painted a scenario of a Gazan family moving back into tents, thinking ‘I’m going to get back into a dwelling in five years,’ and that is just not going to happen. It is a wasteland of rubble.
Dozens of UK Labour MPs and four Labour peers have written to the foreign secretary, David Lammy, slamming Donald Trump’s proposal to take over the Gaza Strip.
The letter, signed by 68 parliamentarians in total, describes Trump’s plans as “ethnic cleansing” and urges Lammy to recognise an independent Palestine and voice the government’s disapproval “in no uncertain terms”.
Trump’s plans amounted to the “forcible removal and dispossession of an entire population,” said Labour MP for Tooting, Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, according to LabourList.
Donald Trump’s description of Gaza as “demolition site” completely fails to include the Israeli government’s responsibility for causing the devastation to the Palestinian territory, Amnesty International said.
Trump also did not acknowledge the “US government’s role in providing arms that have repeatedly been used to carry out deadly, unlawful attacks in Gaza,” the statement from the rights group said.
In the face of President Trump’s dangerous threats, it’s more important than ever for the rest of the international community to categorically reject these proposals and expedite diplomatic efforts, in line with international law, to end Israel’s unlawful occupation, dismantle apartheid and uphold human rights for Palestinians and Israelis.
Updated
Amnesty says Trump's Gaza proposal is 'appalling' and 'flagrant violation' of international law
Amnesty International has condemned Donald Trump’s proposal to deport Palestinians from Gaza to neighbouring countries, describing his comments as “inflammatory, outrageous and shameful”.
Trump’s proposal “amounts to a flagrant violation of international law” and must be “unequivocally and widely condemned”, the rights group’s secretary general, Agnès Callamard, said.
Any plan to forcibly deport Palestinians outside the occupied territory against their will is a war crime, and when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack on the civilian population, it would constitute a crime against humanity.
The US president’s comments “dangerously dehumanise” Palestinians, she said, noting that the majority of Palestinians in Gaza have already been “repeatedly uprooted and dispossessed by Israel” and yet have continued to “struggle to remain on their lands and defend their human rights.”
Donald Trump’s remarks that the US will “take over” Gaza and resettle the Palestinian population elsewhere have drawn outrage and criticism from Palestinian and Arab Americans across the US.
A group of Arab Americans that supported Trump during the 2024 election rebranded itself following Trump’s comments on displacing Palestinians, from “Arab Americans for Trump” to “Arab Americans for Peace”.
In a statement, the group said that while they still believed that Trump “is committed to achieving a lasting peace in the Middle East that is satisfactory to ALL parties”, they “take issue with the president’s suggestion of taking over Gaza and removing its Palestinian inhabitants to other parts of the Arab world”.
The group added that it was “adamantly opposed to the notion of transferring Palestinians outside of historic Palestine for ANY reason”.
Updated
Egypt’s president, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, told his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, that the international community must bear its responsibility to support the implementation of a two-state solution.
In its readout of the call, the Élysée Palace stated that the two leaders said agreed that any “forced displacement” of the Palestinian population in Gaza or the West Bank would be “unacceptable”, adding:
It would be a serious violation of international law, an obstacle to the two-state solution and a major destabilising force for Egypt and Jordan.
Updated
Germany’s president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, said proposals for the deportation of Palestinians from Gaza were causing “deep concern in some people, even horror”.
Steinmeier, speaking after talks with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said such proposals were “not only unacceptable under international law” but would not serve as a “serious basis for talks” between regional actors and the US.
Updated
Trump’s Gaza plan could amount to war crime, say experts
Donald Trump’s proposal to permanently move millions of Palestinians out of Gaza to allow its reconstruction under US “ownership” could amount to a war crime or crime against humanity, experts in international law have said.
The experts said the US president’s framing of his plan without any reference to international law set a dangerous precedent that would encourage other world leaders to do similarly and contribute to a global breakdown of peace and security.
The two most obvious codes potentially breached by the Trump plan are the Geneva conventions – international treaties agreed in 1949 governing the treatment of civilians and military personnel during conflicts – and the 1998 Rome statute, which established the international criminal court to bring to justice individuals suspected of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide where states either cannot or will not do so themselves.
Under both codes, the arbitrary and permanent forcible transfer of populations is a crime.
Canada’s foreign minister said that Canada’s position on Gaza had not changed, and that they are committed to achieving a two-state solution.
In a statement posted on social media, Melanie Joly wrote:
Canada’s longstanding position on Gaza has not changed. We are committed to achieving a two-state solution, where Israelis and Palestinians can live securely within internationally recognised borders.
There is no role for Hamas in the governance of Gaza. We support Palestinians’ right to self-determination, including from being forcibly displaced from Gaza.
Updated
Defense secretary Hegseth: US to look at 'all options' on Gaza
Pete Hegseth has said that the Pentagon is prepared to look at “all options” when it comes to Gaza.
Hegseth made the comments on Wednesday before the start of his meeting with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Pentagon, according to Reuters.
“I would just say, on the question of Gaza, the definition of insanity is attempting to do the same thing over and over and over again” Hegseth said.
“The president is willing to think outside the box, look for new and unique, dynamic ways to solve problems that have felt like they were intractable” Hegseth added. “We’re prepared to look at all options.”
Updated
A summary of the day so far
Here’s a recap of all the day’s developments:
A proposal by Donald Trump that the US could “take over” the Gaza Strip and that the Palestinians could live in “peace and harmony” elsewhere has sparked widespread international condemnation. Trump insisted on Wednesday that “everybody loves” his proposal.
Trump’s top diplomat, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and spokesperson, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, appeared to backtrack his proposal that he wants a permanent relocation of Palestinians from Gaza. “The president has made it clear that they need to be temporarily relocated out of Gaza,” Leavitt said during a White House briefing. Rubio said the idea “was not meant as hostile”, describing it as a “generous move - the offer to rebuild and to be in charge of the rebuilding”.
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 UN secretary general, António Guterres, warned against “any form of ethnic cleansing”, adding that it is “vital to stay true to the bedrock of international law”. The UN chief said that any durable peace will require a “tangible, irreversible and permanent” progress toward the two state solution as well as the establishment of an “independent Palestinian state with Gaza as an integral part”.
An EU spokesperson said Gaza is an “integral part” of a future Palestinian state, and that the bloc remains “fully committed” to a two-state solution.
UK prime minister Keir Starmer said the Palestinians “must be allowed to rebuild” and pursue a two-state solution, while the German foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, said Gaza belongs to Palestinians and their expulsion would be “unacceptable and contrary to international law”.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry rejected “any attempts to displace the Palestinians from their land” while the Egyptian foreign minister, Badr Abdelatty, expressed support for recovery projects in Gaza without Palestinians leaving the territory.
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”.
Republicans in Trump’s own party gave a mixed reaction to the president’s proposal. The speaker of the US House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, welcomed Trump’s Gaza proposal, saying it could help achieve “lasting peace in Gaza”. Rand Paul, the Kentucky senator, said the US has “no business contemplating yet another occupation to doom our treasure and spill our soldiers’ blood.”
Israel’s far-right former national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, who resigned last month in protest at the ceasefire deal, said that “encouraging” Palestinians to leave Gaza was the only correct strategy to end the war and urged the Israeli government to pursue the policy “immediately”.
Israel’s foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar announced it would follow the US’s steps in ending cooperation with the UN’s human rights council, a day after Trump signed an executive order pulling the US out of the UN body.
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.
Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran has options to navigate US sanctions after Trump restored his “maximum pressure” campaign on the country over its nuclear programme.
Trump also, however, called for a “verified peace agreement” with Iran that would allow the country to “peacefully grow and prosper”.
UN chief warns against 'ethnic cleansing' and calls for independent Palestinian state with Gaza as 'integral' part
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, has called for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages.
Guterres warned against “any form of ethnic cleansing” in Gaza as he addressed the UN committee on the exercise of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, a day after Donald Trump announced plans for the US to take control of the strip and for Palestinians to be “resettled” in neighbouring countries.
“In the search for solutions, we must not make the problem worse,” the UN chief said.
“It is vital to stay true to the bedrock of international law. It is essential to avoid any form of ethnic cleansing.”
He said that any durable peace will require a “tangible, irreversible and permanent” progress toward the two state solution as well as the establishment of an “independent Palestinian state with Gaza as an integral part”.
Updated
The United Arab Emirates said it rejects any attempts to displace Palestinians in response to Donald Trump’s proposal for the US to take control of the Gaza Strip.
The UAE foreign ministry “stressed its categorical rejection of any infringement on the Palestinians’ unalienable rights, and any attempts of displacement”, according to a statement obtained by Agence-France-Presse. The statement continued:
The UAE underscored the importance of finding a serious political horizon to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and establish an independent Palestinian state, reflecting the UAE’s belief that regional stability can only be attained through the two-state solution
Planning to “clean out” Palestinians as a real estate money-making scheme is an idea that has long united the Israeli settler movement and some of Donald Trump’s circle of US property developers.
For decades, state-backed settlers have used concrete, steel and brick to build on occupied land in Palestine in a successful effort to use town-building as a means to claim territory and permanently force Palestinians from their homeland.
This method appealed to sections of Trump’s first administration, and not just because it was filled with apocalyptic evangelical Christians, who see a Jewish presence in the Holy Land as a biblical precondition for Armageddon, which they believe will bring the return of Jesus Christ.
It also spoke to the real estate mindset of Trump’s family and associates, most prominently his son-in-law Jared Kushner, the architect of a 2020 “peace” plan for the Middle East that was never implemented but was heavily focused on investments.
Now, Trump has expanded on the idea to its most extreme position, calling for the US to effectively colonise Gaza in what would amount to an ethnic cleansing of the population of about 2 million people. The plan is then to “develop” on the levelled ground, which is still filled with the bodies of tens of thousands people killed by Israel.
A former senior UK Foreign Office diplomat has warned that Britain is at risk of “pulling its punches“ and becoming “complicit in acts … which unravel the international system and the rule of law“ in its response to Donald Trump’s comments about Gaza.
“Politics is the art of the possible and I am concerned that the British government is slightly at risk of pulling its punches,” Sir Simon Fraser, the former top diplomat at the Foreign Office, told Times Radio on Wednesday.
He said he understood that the UK-US relationship is “key”, particularly post-Brexit, and that the British government “doesn’t want to alienate Trump”. Fraser added:
The risk, however, is that we accidentally become complicit in acts by Donald Trump which unravel the international system and the rule of law and all the accepted principles of international behaviour, and we end up on the wrong side of that fence.
Updated
Gaza is 'integral' to future Palestinian state, says EU
Gaza should be an essential part of a future Palestinian state, an EU foreign policy spokesperson said in response to Donald Trump’s proposal for the US to take over the Palestinian territory.
The European bloc remains “fully committed” to a two-state solution, which it believes it the “only path to long-term peace for both Israelis and Palestinians,” they said, adding:
Gaza is an integral part of a future Palestinian state.
Benjamin Netanyahu has posted a photograph showing him meeting with the US vice-president, JD Vance, and national security adviser Michael Waltz.
The Israeli leader described the meeting at Blair House as “excellent and warm”, adding:
The friendship between Israel and the United States has never been stronger!
An excellent and warm meeting at Blair House with U.S. Vice President @JDVance and National Security Advisor @michaelgwaltz. The friendship between Israel and the United States has never been stronger! 🇮🇱🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/4gGYFjh4kk
— Benjamin Netanyahu - בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) February 5, 2025
Updated
Donald Trump’s vision of Gaza as a US-administered Riviera stripped of Palestinians indulges the fantasies of Israel’s extremist right, but also, if taken seriously, builds on an expansionist foreign policy that Trump has articulated since he took on the presidency.
The outlook is more akin to mid-19th century US imperial thinking than the era of isolationism his election appeared to herald.
Indeed the one moment Benjamin Netanyahu did not look delighted at Tuesday’s joint press conference was when Trump, negotiating in real time, referred to the US as being opposed to Israeli ownership of Gaza.
The whole extraordinary press conference was Trump’s attempt to take ownership of the Middle East issue – not just of future policy, but also of what he likes to call real estate, and Palestinians prefer to call their homeland. Trump even said he was prepared to commit US troops on the ground to secure “a long-term ownership position”.
It was a far cry from the previous Trump argument that the US should get the hell out of the Middle East.
Read the full analysis here: Trump’s plan to own Gaza a throwback to 19th-century imperialism
Trump only meant to 'generously' offer to rebuild Gaza and not permanently move Palestinians out, says Rubio
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has suggested that Donald Trump was only proposing to be responsible for the reconstruction of Gaza, and not claim indefinite possession of the strip.
Trump, in comments alongside Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday, called for the permanent resettlement in neighbouring countries of the 2 million Palestinians who live in Gaza.
Rubio, at a press conference in Guatemala City on Wednesday, said Trump’s proposal “was not meant as hostile.” He said:
The only thing president Trump has done – very generously, in my view – is offer the United States’ willingness to step in, clear the debris, clean the place up from all the destruction … so that then people can move back in.
Trump wants to support “rebuilding homes and businesses and things of this nature, so that then people can move back in,” he said.
He described Gaza as “akin to a natural disaster” where people could not live because of unexploded munitions, debris and rubble.
In the interim, obviously people are going to have to live somewhere while you’re rebuilding it.
Updated
A Hezbollah official has described US plans to move Palestinians out of Gaza as “criminal orders”.
The comments by Hussein Moussawi, political advisor to the group’s secretary general, were published in a statement from Hezbollah, Reuters reports.
Meanwhile, the Iran-backed Houthi group said Yemen “stands beside Palestine in confronting all forms of aggression against the Palestinian cause”.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt is asked if Palestinians who want to stay in Gaza will be allowed to do so, under Donald Trump’s proposal.
Leavitt dodges the question, instead saying that Trump is “committed to rebuilding Gaza and to temporarily relocating those who are there.”
The president wants these individuals to live in peace. He is committed to doing that with this very bold new plan.
Israel follows US in pulling out of UN human rights council
Israel is ending its cooperation with the UN’s human rights council (UNHRC), foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar announced, a day after Donald Trump signed an executive order ending the US’s participation in the UNHRC.
Israel “welcomes” Trump’s decision not to participate in the UNHRC, Sa’ar said, adding:
The UNHRC has traditionally protected human rights abusers by allowing them to hide from scrutiny, and instead obsessively demonizes the one democracy in the Middle East - Israel. This body has focused on attacking a democratic country and propagating antisemitism, instead of promoting human rights.
Donald Trump said the US will not pay for the rebuilding of Gaza, the White House said.
The Trump administration will “work with our partners in the region to reconstruct this region,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
She described Trump’s plan as an “out of the box idea”, adding: “That’s who President Trump is. That’s why the American people elected him.”
Updated
Trump has not yet committed to putting US troops in Gaza, says White House
The White House’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said Donald Trump “has not committed to putting boots on the grounds in Gaza”.
Trump, during his joint press conference with Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, declined to rule out sending US troops to move Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip.
Asked if the White House can rule out sending American troops to Gaza, Leavitt said:
I am saying that the president has not committed to that just yet. He has not made that commitment.
The White House’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, is holding the first press briefing since Donald Trump announced his proposal for the US to take over the Gaza Strip.
Leavitt noted remarks from Trump yesterday that the “bonds of friendship and affection” between the US and Israeli people are “absolutely unbreakable”.
Trump is “committed to eliminated Hamas and securing a lasting peace for the entire region,” she said.
The historic proposal for the United States to take over Gaza, announced by President Trump last night, underscores this commitment.
She described Trump as an “outside of the box thinker” and “visionary leader” who “solves problems that many others … claim are unsolvable.”
UN chief to warn against 'ethnic cleansing' in Gaza
The UN secretary general’s spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, has been speaking to reporters after Donald Trump’s shocking plan for the US to take over the Gaza Strip.
“Any forced displacement of people is tantamount to ethnic cleansing,” Dujarric said, previewing comments that the UN chief, António Guterres, will say later today.
The UN secretary general believes that any solutions for Gaza should “stay true to the bedrock of international law” and not make the problem worse, he said, adding:
It is essential to avoid any form of ethnic cleansing. And, of course, he will reaffirm the two state solution.
Trump insists 'everybody loves' his Gaza proposal
Donald Trump has once again said that “everybody loves” his proposal for the US to take over the Gaza Strip, despite his shock announcement facing global condemnation.
“Everybody loves it,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday.
He refused to take further questions as he was overseeing the swearing in of the new US attorney general, Pam Bondi.
In a joint press conference with Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, Trump claimed “everybody I’ve spoken to loves the idea of the United States owning that piece of land,” referring to the Gaza Strip.
Updated
Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law and former aide, was reportedly behind the American president’s plan to remove people from the Gaza Strip and put the territory under US control.
Kushner was involved in crafting Trump’s prepared remarks that he made alongside Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, yesterday, the Times of Israel reports, citing Puck News.
Netanyahu had not requested that Trump pursue such a plan ahead of time, according to the report.
Kushner, who was a senior foreign policy adviser under Trump’s first administration, has previously spoken about the “very valuable” potential of Gaza’s “waterfront property”.
In an interview in February 2024, he suggested Israel should remove civilians while it “cleans up” the strip. “From Israel’s perspective I would do my best to move the people out and then clean it up,” he said.
Here’s a clip of that interview:
US House speaker Johnson welcomes Trump's 'bold action'
The speaker of the US House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, has welcomed President Trump’s Gaza proposal, saying it could help achieve “lasting peace in Gaza”.
Responding on X to a clip in which Trump suggested the US should “take over” Gaza, Johnson wrote: “The United States stands firmly with Israel and the people of the Middle East, which haven’t experienced peace in many, many years.
“Violence and hatred do not have to define the region’s future.
“Today, President Trump took bold action in hopes of achieving lasting peace in Gaza. We are hopeful this brings much needed stability and security to the region.”
Updated
Displacing Palestinians would be a “moral abomination”, the Israel and Palestine director for Human Rights Watch has said.
“International humanitarian law forbids the forced displacement of the population of an occupied territory,” Omar Shakir told Reuters.
“When such forced displacement is widespread, it can amount to a war crime or a crime against humanity.”
From “problematic” to “a couple of kinks in that Slinky” to “a bit of a stretch”, reaction from some Republicans who weighed in on Donald Trump’s proposal to “own” Gaza was mostly muted on Wednesday, as many senior party leaders chose to remain silent.
Some of the strongest criticism came from Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, who wrote on X: “The pursuit for peace should be that of the Israelis and the Palestinians. I thought we voted for America First.
“We have no business contemplating yet another occupation to doom our treasure and spill our soldiers’ blood.”
His critical comments were an outlier among Republicans, although Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina senator, said he foresaw issues with the plan.
“We’ll see what our Arab friends say about that,” Graham said, reported by Politico. “I think most South Carolinians would probably not be excited about sending Americans to take over Gaza. I think that might be problematic, but I’ll keep an open mind.”
Trump’s head-spinning pronouncement appeared to catch many Republican politicians off guard, including the North Carolina senator Thom Tillis.
“There’s probably a couple of kinks in that Slinky, but I’ll have to look at the statement,” he said.
“Obviously it’s not going to happen. I don’t know under what circumstance it would make sense, even for Israel.”
Read the full story here:
British Palestinians have condemned Donald Trump’s plan to “take over” the Gaza Strip and called for an urgent rethink of UK government policies.
Dr Sara Husseini, director of the British Palestinian Committee, said Trump’s plans were “an extension of the relentless dispossession and dehumanisation of Palestinians we have experienced for decades, in particular over the past 15 months of Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza”.
“Israel has been emboldened to breach international humanitarian law, thanks to the impunity it has been granted by the US, UK and other allies, along with the provision of military support from successive US and UK governments,” she said.
“Keir Starmer’s government must now take immediate, effective action against all attempts to ethnically cleanse the Palestinians from their homeland… and seek urgent accountability for Israel’s violations of international law.”
Dr. Nimer Sultany, reader in public law at SOAS University of London and the editor-in-chief of the Palestine Yearbook of International Law textbook, said that “instead of holding Israel to account for making Gaza uninhabitable, the US is aiding Israel in completing the genocide”.
“Instead of enforcing the International Court of Justice’s July ruling by ending the Israeli occupation and dismantling the Israeli settlements, Trump is seeking to displace Palestinians demanding freedom. Instead of denouncing Israeli annexation, which is no less unlawful than [Russia’s annexation of] Crimea, the US plans to facilitate it.
“All states and human rights defenders need to forcefully reject this ugly face of barbarism: these attempts seek to destroy not only Gaza but also the international legal order itself.”
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has said Donald Trump’s proposal for the US to take over the Gaza Strip and resettle Palestinians in other countries “makes no sense” and is “practically incomprehensible”.
Speaking in a joint interview with Brazilian radio stations, the leftist leader once again called Israel’s actions in Gaza a “genocide” and said the US had “encouraged everything that Israel has done in Gaza”.
“It makes no sense [for the US president] to meet with the president of Israel and say: ‘We are going to occupy Gaza, we are going to recover Gaza, we are going to live in Gaza’,” he said.
“And the Palestinians – where will they go, where will they live? … So, it is something practically incomprehensible to any human being.”
He added: “What happened in Gaza was a genocide, and I honestly do not know if the US, which is part of all this, would be the country to try to take care of Gaza. Those who have to take care of Gaza are the Palestinians.
“What they need is compensation for everything that was destroyed so that they can rebuild their homes, hospitals, schools, and live with dignity and respect,” he said.
Citing Trump’s recent comments on Greenland, Canada, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Panama Canal, Lula said the US was “isolating itself from the world” and that “common sense is needed”.
The first time Lula referred to Israel’s actions in Gaza was at the beginning of last year. In response, the Brazilian president was declared “persona non grata” by the Israeli government. Since then, Lula has described Israel’s actions in Gaza and Lebanon as a “massacre” and “unnecessary slaughter”.
Updated
Death toll in Gaza reaches 47,552, says Hamas-run health ministry
The death toll in Gaza since the start of Israeli operations in the territory after the 7 October attacks now stands at 47,552, according to the Hamas-run Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The ministry’s latest daily update also said the number of people injured has reached 111,629.
Last week, Christian Lindmeier, a spokesperson for the World Health Organisation, said the agency considered the ministry’s figures reliable and that they were in fact probably an underestimate.
“Let’s not forget, the official death toll given by the Ministry of Health is deaths accounted in morgues and in hospitals, so in official facilities,” she said.
“As people go back to their houses, as they will start looking for their loved ones under the rubble, this casualty figure is expected to increase.”
Updated
What did Trump say about Gaza?
We’ve been reporting today on the international reaction to proposals made by President Trump about the future of Gaza.
In case you missed it, here’s a quick recap of what he said.
Speaking at a joint press conference with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, at the White House on Tuesday evening, Trump suggested the US could take control of the territory and that the Palestinians could live out their lives in “peace and harmony” elsewhere.
“The US will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it, too. We’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site,” he said.
“Level the site and get rid of the destroyed buildings. Create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area.
“We have an opportunity to do something that could be phenomenal. The Riveria of the Middle East. This could be so magnificent.”
Asked whether US troops might be sent to help secure Gaza, he said: “We’ll do what is necessary. If it’s necessary, we’ll do that.”
He was also questioned about whether he would support the idea of Israel assuming sovereignty over the West Bank, replying that the administration would be “making an announcement probably on that very specific topic over the next four weeks”.
Updated
Global reaction to Trump’s declaration US will ‘take over’ Gaza Strip
President Donald Trump said the United States would take over the Gaza Strip after Palestinians are resettled elsewhere.
Here are some global reactions to the announcement, according to a roundup from Reuters:
Saudi Arabian foreign ministry:
Saudi Arabia rejects any attempts to displace the Palestinians from their land. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has affirmed the kingdom’s position in ‘a clear and explicit manner’ that does not allow for any interpretation under any circumstances.”
UK prime minister, Keir Starmer:
“They [Palestinians] must be allowed home, they must be allowed to rebuild, and we should be with them in that rebuild on the way to a two-state solution.”
German foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock:
Baerbock said the Gaza Strip belongs to Palestinians and their expulsion would be unacceptable and contrary to international law. “It would also lead to new suffering and new hatred … There must be no solution over the heads of the Palestinians.”
French foreign ministry spokeperson, Christophe Lemoine:
France reiterates its opposition to any forced displacement of the Palestinian population of Gaza, which would constitute a serious violation of international law, an attack on the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinians, but also a major obstacle to the two-state solution and a major destabilising factor for our close partners Egypt and Jordan as well as for the entire region.”
Spanish foreign minister, José Manuel Albares:
I want to be very clear on this: Gaza is the land of Gazan Palestinians and they must stay in Gaza. Gaza is part of the future Palestinian state Spain supports and has to coexist guaranteeing the Israeli state’s prosperity and safety.”
Egyptian foreign minister, Badr Abdelatty:
Abdelatty discussed with Palestinian prime minister, Mohammad Mustafa, the importance of moving forward with recovery projects in Gaza without Palestinians leaving the territory.
Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov:
Russia believes a settlement in the Middle East is only possible on the basis of a two-state solution:
This is the thesis that is enshrined in the relevant UN security council resolution, this is the thesis that is shared by the overwhelming majority of countries involved in this problem. We proceed from it, we support it and believe that this is the only possible option.”
Chinese foreign ministry:
China hopes all parties will take ceasefire and post-conflict governance as an opportunity to bring the Palestinian issue back on the right track of political settlement based on the two-state solution.”
Turkish foreign minister, Hakan Fidan:
Trump’s comments on a plan to take over Gaza are “unacceptable”. Any plans leaving Palestinians “out of the equation” would lead to more conflict.
UN human rights office:
It is crucial that we move towards the next phase of the ceasefire, to release all hostages and arbitrarily detained prisoners, end the war and reconstruct Gaza, with full respect for international humanitarian law and international human rights law.
Any forcible transfer in or deportation of people from occupied territory is strictly prohibited.”
Senior Hamas official, Sami Abu Zuhri:
Our people in the Gaza Strip will not allow these plans to pass … What is required is to end the [Israeli] occupation and aggression against our people, not to expel them from their land.”
Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, and the Palestinian leadership:
Abbas said the Palestinians will not relinquish their land, rights and sacred sites, and that the Gaza Strip is an integral part of the land of the State of Palestine, along with the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Senior Iranian official:
Iran does not agree with any displacement of Palestinians and has communicated this through various channels.”
Irish foreign minister, Simon Harris:
It’s very clear the direction of travel here: we need a two state solution, and the people of Palestine and the people of Israel both have a right to live in states safely side by side, and that’s where the focus has to be. Any idea of displacing the people of Gaza anywhere else would be in clear contradiction with UN security council resolutions.”
Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese:
Australia’s 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.”
Palestine Liberation Organization secretary general, Hussein al-Sheikh:
The Palestinian leadership affirms its firm position that the two-state solution, in accordance with international legitimacy and international law, is the guarantee of security, stability and peace.”
Islamic Jihad:
Trump’s positions and plans are a dangerous escalation that threaten Arab and regional national security, especially in Egypt and Jordan, which the US administration wants to put in confrontation with the Palestinian people and their rights.”
Former Israeli minister for national security, Itamar Ben-Gvir:
Ben-Gvir said that “encouraging” Palestinians to migrate from the territory was the only correct strategy at the end of the war in Gaza. He urged Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to adopt that policy “immediately”.
Democratic and Palestinian-American US representative, Rashida Tlaib:
Palestinians aren’t going anywhere. This president can only spew this fanatical bullshit because of bipartisan support in Congress for funding genocide and ethnic cleansing. It’s time for my two-state solution colleagues to speak up.”
Palestinians “must be allowed home”, Keir Starmer has said in the wake of Donald Trump’s proposal to remove people from the Gaza Strip and put the territory under US control.
The prime minister told the Commons during prime minister’s questions that Palestinians “must be allowed to rebuild and we should be with them in that rebuild on the way to a two-state solution”.
His comments come after the US president suggested the “Riviera of the Middle East” could be created and said he did not think “people should be going back” to Gaza. Trump’s idea has been widely condemned as ethnic cleansing, given it would be a breach of international law.
While Starmer did not directly criticise the US president’s plan, he said:
The most important issue on the ceasefire is obviously it’s sustained, we see it through the phases, and that means that the remaining hostages come out, and the aid that’s desperately needed gets into Gaza at speed and at the volumes that are needed.
I have from the last few weeks two images fixed in my mind. The first is the image of Emily Damari reunited with her mother, which I found extremely moving. The second was the image of thousands of Palestinians walking, literally walking, through the rubble to try to find their homes and their communities in Gaza. They must be allowed home. They must be allowed to rebuild, and we should be with them in that rebuild on the way to a two-state solution.”
Starmer was responding to a question from the Liberal Democrat leader, Ed Davey, who asked for reassurance that the “concerns on these dangerous statements from the president will be communicated to the White House directly and firmly”.
Davey told Starmer:
Many of us were alarmed to hear President Trump speak about forcibly displacing 1.8 million people from Gaza.”
He added:
I’m glad that the foreign secretary has confirmed that the government’s position is still a two-state solution, I think that has support on all sides of the house, but will he reassure the house that this position and our concerns on these dangerous statements from the president will be communicated to the White House directly and firmly?”
Qatar, a key mediator in the Gaza ceasefire talks, was busy with phase two of the deal, and said it was too early to talk about the issue of Palestinians and displacement, Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson told Fox News on Wednesday, reports Reuters.
“We know that there is a lot of trauma with the Palestinian side when it comes to displacement. However, again, it’s too early to talk about this, because we don’t know how this war will end,” Majed Al-Ansari said.
Donald Trump and Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, addressed reporters at the White House, where the US president announced his intention to take over the Gaza Strip, move Palestinians to neighbouring countries and redevelop the territory for occupation by “the world’s people”, effectively endorsing the ethnic cleansing of the people of Gaza.
Here are the main takeaways from their joint press conference on Tuesday evening:
Jordan’s King Abdullah said on Wednesday he rejected any attempts to annex land and displace Palestinians, reports Reuters.
The remarks came after US president Donald Trump said on Tuesday the United States would take over Gaza after Palestinians are resettled elsewhere and develop it economically.
The UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, said Palestinians must be allowed to return to their homes in Gaza and rebuild, but ducked an invitation to criticise the US president, Donald Trump, when the Liberal Democrat leader, Ed Davey, asked whether Starmer would raise with Trump the concerns MPs have about his “dangerous statements”.
Trump’s proposal for the US to “take over” the Gaza Strip and resettle Palestinians in other countries has sparked global condemnation.
Iran has options to navigate US sanctions, Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian said on Wednesday, after US president Donald Trump restored his “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran.
There are no additional details on Pezeshkian’s comments on Reuters but we will update when more comes in.
UN high commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk, insisted on Wednesday that deporting people from occupied territory was strictly prohibited, after US president Donald Trump’s proposal for the United States to take over Gaza and resettle its people.
“The right to self-determination is a fundamental principle of international law and must be protected by all states, as the international court of justice recently underlined afresh. Any forcible transfer in or deportation of people from occupied territory is strictly prohibited,” Türk said in a statement.
UN human rights office says Trump's Gaza plan would breach international humanitarian law
Any forcible transfer in or deportation of people from occupied territory breaches international law, the UN human rights office (UNHR) said on Wednesday, in reference to Donald Trump’s claim that the US would take over the Gaza Strip and forcibly resettle the Palestinian population elsewhere.
“It is crucial that we move towards the next phase of the ceasefire, to release all hostages and arbitrarily detained prisoners, end the war and reconstruct Gaza, with full respect for international humanitarian law and international human rights law,” said the UNHR in a statement to Reuters.
“Any forcible transfer in or deportation of people from occupied territory is strictly prohibited,” it continued.
UK prime minister: Palestinians 'must be allowed home, allowed to rebuild' on way to two-state solution
Speaking in parliament in London, the British prime minister Keir Starmer has said Palestinians “must be allowed home.”
Starmer was responding to a question from Liberal Democrat Ed Davey, the leader of the third largest party in the House of Commons, and told lawmakers:
The most important issue on the ceasefire is, obviously that it’s sustained, and we see it through the phases. And that means that the remaining hostages come out, and the aid that’s desperately needed gets into Gaza at speed and at the volumes that are needed.
I have from the last few weeks two images fixed in my mind. The first is the image of Emily Damari reunited with her mother, which I found extremely moving.
The second was the image of thousands of Palestinians walking, literally walking through the rubble, to try to find their homes and their communities in Gaza.
They must be allowed home. They must be allowed to rebuild, and we should be with them in that rebuild, on the way to a two state solution.
Starmer did not mention US president Donald Trump by name, nor did he respond to Davey’s suggestion that he should reassure lawmakers that “our concerns on these dangerous statements from the president will be communicated to the White House directly and firmly.”
In a statement, Israel’s Nachala Movement has responded to Donald Trump’s comments by saying “we must hurry” to settle Gaza.
Reuters reports the far-right group posted to social media saying “We must hurry and establish settlements throughout the Gaza Strip. No part of the land of Israel should be left without Jewish settlement. If an area remains desolate, it may be captured by enemies.”
Israeli settler leader Daniella Weiss has previously stated that thousands of Jewish settlers are ready to move to Gaza.
Donald Trump has called for a “verified peace agreement” with Iran that would allow the country to “peacefully grow and prosper”.
“I want Iran to be a great and successful Country, but one that cannot have a Nuclear Weapon,” he said on his Truth Social platform.
“Reports that the United States, working in conjunction with Israel, is going to blow Iran into smithereens, ARE GREATLY EXAGGERATED.”
Trump continued: “I would much prefer a Verified Nuclear Peace Agreement, which will let Iran peacefully grow and prosper.
“We should start working on it immediately, and have a big Middle East Celebration when it is signed and completed. God Bless the Middle East!”
During his first term, Trump withdrew the US from the Iran nuclear deal, which had been agreed with Iran by the US, the UK, France, China, Russia, and the EU.
The deal limited Iran’s nuclear programme in return for the lifting of sanctions, but faced widespread opposition on the American right.
Updated
The UN’s high commissioner for refugees, Filippo Grandi, has told AFP that Donald Trump’s comments proposing the US “take over” Gaza were “surprising”.
“It’s something very surprising, but we have to see what it means in concrete terms,” Grandi said in Brussels, adding that it was difficult to comment on such a “sensitive issue”.
Trump said the US would “take over” Gaza and “own it”, effectively publicly endorsing the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians after Israel has spent months bombing the densely populated territory in a military campaign which has killed tens of thousands, and forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes.
Updated
John Swinney, Scotland’s first minister, has condemned President Trump’s plans for Gaza as “unacceptable and dangerous”, saying there “must be no ethnic cleansing”.
In a post on Bluesky he said:
After months of collective punishment and the death of over 40,000 in Gaza, any suggestion Palestinians should be removed from their home is unacceptable and dangerous.
There must be no ethnic cleansing.
Only a proper two state solution will bring lasting peace.”
And Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s former first minister, whose parents-in-law were trapped in Gaza for a number of weeks in 2023 after the 7 October Hamas massacre tiggered war, has also described President Trump’s plan as “ethnic cleansing”.
In a post on social media commenting on what Trump said during his White House press conference, Yousaf said:
Why is it a living hell? Who bombed it, killing tens of thousands of people, including children, and reduced Gaza to rubble?
Also, what Trump calls “permanent resettlement” is what the rest of the world should call ethnic cleansing.
Gaza belongs to the people of Gaza. Period.”
German foreign minister says Gaza expulsion would be unacceptable
German foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, said on Wednesday that the Gaza Strip belongs to Palestinians, and their expulsion would be unacceptable and contrary to international law, reports Reuters.
“The civilian population of Gaza must not be expelled and Gaza must not be permanently occupied or repopulated,” Baerbock said in a statement. “It is clear that Gaza – like the West Bank and East Jerusalem – belongs to the Palestinians. They form the basis for a future Palestinian state.”
“It would also lead to new suffering and new hatred,” said Baerbock in a statement, adding: “There must be no solution over the heads of the Palestinians.”
Hamas says Trump plan to take over Gaza will pour 'oil on the fire'
Hamas on Wednesday condemned a proposal by US president Donald Trump to “take over” and “own” Gaza, saying it will fan the flames of Middle East violence.
Hamas said in a statement that the proposal “aiming for the United States to occupy the Gaza Strip” was “aggressive to our people and cause, won’t serve stability in the region and will only put oil on the fire”.
UK's Lammy says need to ensure future for Palestinians in their homeland
The UK’s foreign minister, David Lammy, said on Wednesday it should be ensured that Palestinians have a future in their homeland, a day after US president Donald Trump proposed resettling Palestinians and taking over Gaza to develop it.
“We’ve always been clear in our belief that we must see two states. We must see Palestinians live and prosper in their homelands in Gaza and the West Bank,” he told a news conference during a trip to Kyiv.
Commenting on Donald Trump’s plans for Gaza and the Middle East, Dr Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and north Africa programme at Chatham House, shared the following analysis:
President Trump is perhaps trying to achieve a few objectives in his provocative comments on Gaza displacement. Firstly, he could be trying to disrupt conventional thinking on a longstanding conflict that has yet to be resolved or produce viable solutions.
He equally wants to show continued commitment to Israel to placate supporters and high-level donors in the United States and shore up Netanyahu’s fragile political balance of power to help the prime minister engage in phase two ceasefire negotiations.
More broadly, this is also part of his extreme deal-making strategy that will lay the ground for broader Israeli-Saudi normalisation talks. He could be using this to pave the way to promote Saudi normalisation in exchange for no annexation.
Obviously many Palestinians and Arab states are appalled by this proposition that contravenes international law. This will likely lead to greater multilateral unity between them as was evidenced by their collective statement over the weekend.
A more immediate consequence in reaction could see Hamas delay or slow down the release of further hostages.”
The leader of the UK’s Liberal Democrats, Ed Davey, said on Wednesday that US president Donald Trump’s comments on Gaza “risk having the effect of a bull in a china shop”.
In a post on X, Davey wrote:
When we desperately need a fragile truce to hold, Trump’s ramblings on Gaza risk having the effect of a bull in a china shop.
The UK needs to make clear that these proposals must be rejected, and that we support international law and a two state solution based on 1967 borders.”
Updated
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Aragchi, responded to US president Donald Trump’s decision to reimpose maximum economic sanctions on Iran by saying maximum pressure was a failed experiment, and trying it again will lead to another failure.
But he added:
If Trump’s main issue is that Iran does not pursue nuclear weapons, that is achievable and there is no problem.”
Araqchi said:
Iran’s positions are clear, it is a member of the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty, and there is also a fatwa from the leadership that has clarified the task for us.”
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has long argued with US presidents that Iran is bent on covertly building a nuclear weapon. Iran does not disguise it has built up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium way beyond what was permitted under the 2015 nuclear deal, bit says it did so in response to Trump pulling out of that deal in 2018.
Some Iranians also seized on Trump’s statement that he was willing to talk to Iran’s leaders about its nuclear program, and his admission: “There are many people at the top ranks of Iran that do not want to have a nuclear weapon.” Trump added he did not care if he called the Iranians to arrange talks or the Iranians rang him.
His suggestion that Iran does not have monolithic politics leaves space for negotiations about a new nuclear deal to replace the one signed in 2015, and Trump withdrew the US from in 2018. Trump portrayed himself as a man that had signed the presidential memorandum against Iran reluctantly, adding he hoped the measures would never need to be used. He said at the signing ceremony:
So this is one that I am torn about. I am signing this, but I am unhappy to do it.”
Iranian officials argued that the US attempt to weaken Iran’s already heavily sanctioned economy would be hard to achieve since the bulk of Iranian revenue comes through the export of oil to China, often via intermediaries. The imposition of extra sanctions was seen as a bargaining chip ahead of negotiations on a nuclear deal akin to the imposition of tariffs on other countries.
Trump also said he has left posthumous instructions that Iran was to be totally obliterated if they assassinated a US president or anyone close to him. In his remarks in the Oval Office, overshadowed by his plan to annex Gaza, he also said the 7 October attack on Israel by Hamas would not have happened if the previous administration had continued to apply for economic pressure on Iran, suggesting Iran had been able to gather revenues to send to Hamas to mount the attack on Israel.
The issue of how Iran approaches any negotiations with the US over what it insists is a civil nuclear programme is politically explosive inside Iran with reports only this week denied by the foreign ministry that Ali Shamkani, the head of the national security commission, would lead as Iran’s representative at any talks.
So far the Iranian foreign ministry has led in the two rounds of talks in Geneva with the three European signatories to the 2015 nuclear deal: France, Germany and the UK. Europe has warned that it will move to reapply UN sanctions in September if a new deal is not agreed by then to replace the 2015 deal that expires this year.
Nothing in what Trump said gave any clue as to the kind of assurances the US would need to lift sanctions, and to be assured that Iran has no intent to build a nuclear bomb. He did not indicate that the US would be seeking a wider deal with Iran that seeks to constrain its support for proxy forces in the region
Iran has slashed back the access UN weapons inspectors have to Iran’s nuclear sites. Both the UN inspectorate, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the European countries have said it is possible Iran has acquired irreversible knowledge on how to build nuclear weapons.
Ismail Baghaei, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson, said:
The claim that Iran is trying to build nuclear weapons is a big lie that has been proven wrong many times, and if someone is looking for certainty about such an issue, it is easily obtainable.”
He added that unlike Israel “which is not a member of any international treaty banning weapons of mass destruction and explicitly threatened to use nuclear weapons in the war against the people of Gaza, the Islamic Republic of Iran is a member of the non-proliferation treaty and Iran’s nuclear programme is under the full supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency in accordance with safeguards agreements”.
Basically, the Islamic Republic of Iran considers weapons of mass destruction to be haram for solid Islamic and humanitarian reasons.
Updated
Trump’s Gaza plan 'unacceptable', says Turkish foreign minister
Turkey’s top diplomat on Wednesday criticised Donald Trump’s proposal for the United States to take over the Gaza Strip and resettle Palestinians in other countries.
“This is an unacceptable issue,” Turkish foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, told the official news agency Anadolu in broadcast comments. He said relocating Palestinians from Gaza was something “neither we nor the region can accept”.
“It is wrong to even bring it up for discussion,” he added, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has named Hezbollah leader, Naim Qassem, as his “representative” in Lebanon, Iranian media reported on Wednesday, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“The leader of the revolution in a decree introduced Sheikh Naim Qassem, secretary general of Hezbollah, as his representative in Lebanon,” Tasnim news agency said. Tasnim carried a copy of the official decree which said Qassem will represent Khamenei in handling “non-litigious matters” and “managing religious affairs” in Lebanon.
The news agency recalled that Qassem’s predecessor, Hassan Nasrallah – who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on south Beirut on 27 September – had held the same title.
Hezbollah is part of the “axis of resistance”, an alliance of Iran-backed armed groups opposed to Israel and its US ally.
Khamenei, who has the final say in all matters of state in Iran, has representatives in all of Iran’s provinces with a mandate to collect religious funds and perform other duties, reports AFP.
Qassem was named Hezbollah leader in October after heir apparent Hashem Safieddine was killed in an Israeli strike shortly after Nasrallah’s death.
Hezbollah is to hold a public funeral for both Nasrallah and Safieddine on 23 February. It had put off public commemorations for safety reasons until after a fragile ceasefire with Israel took hold on 27 November.
Updated
PLO rejects 'all calls for the displacement of Palestinians from their homeland'
The Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) said on Wednesday that it rejected any plan involving the displacement of Palestinians, after US president Donald Trump suggested Palestinians in Gaza move to Egypt or Jordan and the US “take control” of the territory.
Secretary general, Hussein al-Sheikh, said the PLO “affirms its rejection of all calls for the displacement of the Palestinian people from their homeland” and renews its support for a two-state solution, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Here are some of the latest images on the newswires today:
Iran says US 'maximum pressure' will fail as it did in Trump first term
Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said on Wednesday that US president Donald Trump’s reimposition of a policy of “maximum pressure” against Iran will end in “failure” as it did during his first term, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“I believe that maximum pressure is a failed experiment and trying it again will turn into another failure,” Araghchi told reporters after a cabinet meeting, adding that Tehran was not pursuing nuclear weapons.
China says it opposes 'forced transfer' of Palestinians after Trump plan
China on Wednesday said it was opposed to the “forced transfer” of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip after US president Donald Trump said he planned to “take control” of the territory.
“China 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,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Lin Jian, said when asked about Trump’s plan at a regular press conference, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Hamas says 'racist' Trump Gaza plan aims to 'eliminate Palestinian cause'
Hamas on Wednesday rejected US president Donald Trump’s plan to “take control” of the Gaza Strip, calling it “racist” and aimed at eliminating the Palestinian cause.
“The American racist stance aligns with the Israeli extreme right’s position in displacing our people and eliminating our cause,” Hamas spokesperson, Abdel Latif al-Qanou, said in a statement, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Reuters has some more detail on the comments by Iranian government spokesperson, Fatemeh Mohajerani, which we reported on earlier.
“Our foreign policy has always been driven by the following principles: dignity for our country and people, wisdom and interest,” Mohajerani said during a press conference, when asked to react to Donald Trump’s willingness to hold talks with his Iranian counterpart.
She added: “Wisdom means looking behind the scenes and having correct understanding of them.”
On Tuesday, Trump restored his “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran that included efforts to drive its oil exports down to zero in order to stop Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. As he signed the presidential memorandum, Trump described it as tough and said he was torn on whether to make the move.
He added he was open to a deal with Iran and expressed a willingness to talk to Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian.
Updated
Far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has threatened to quit the government if war does not resume in Gaza, has also thanked Donald Trump in a post on X.
Far-right politician Itamar Ben Gvir, who resigned from the Israeli government to protest against the Gaza ceasefire deal, has giving US president Donald Trump’s plan his support.
In a statement, he said:
President Trump says very important things: The only solution to Gaza is to encourage the migration of Gazans. When I said this time and again during the war that this was the solution to Gaza, they mocked me.
Now it is clear: this is the only solution to the Gaza problem – this is the strategy for the “day after”. I call on the prime minister to announce the adoption of the plan as soon as possible and to begin immediate practical progress.”
Iran’s foreign policy is driven by the principles of “dignity … wisdom and interest”, government spokesperson, Fatemeh Mohajerani, said on Wednesday, in response to US president Donald Trump saying that Washington would contact Tehran.
Updated
Interim summary
If you are just tuning into today’s developments and Trump’s extraordinary remarks about the US setting its sights on Gaza, here is what you need to know to quickly bring you up to speed.
Trump has declared that the US will ‘take over’ the Gaza Strip, and that he envisioned a “long-term” US ownership of the territory after all Palestinians were moved elsewhere. Gaza, he said, could be transformed into the ‘Riviera of the Middle East’. The US president did not explain how and under what authority the US could assume control of Gaza. “We will own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site,” he said. He said the US would “level” destroyed buildings and “create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area.”
The Saudi government, in a statement, stressed its rejection of any attempt to displace Palestinians from their land and said it would not establish relations with Israel without establishment of a Palestinian state. Meanwhile Hamas condemned Trump’s calls for Palestinians in Gaza to leave as “expulsion from their land”. One Hamas figure described the remarks as ‘absurd’ and ‘ridiculous’, while the Palestinian envoy to the United Nations said that world leaders and people should respect Palestinians’ desire to remain in Gaza.
Several Democrats slammed Trump’s plan with Democratic senator Chris Murphy saying of Trump: “He’s totally lost it.” Democratic representative Jake Auchincloss described the proposal as “reckless and unreasonable” and called for an examination of Trump’s motives, which he said often contained a “nepotistic, self-serving connection”.
Some Republicans have also derided the proposal. Justin Amash, a former Republican member of Congress whose father was expelled from his home by Israeli forces in 1948, was appalled. “If the United States deploys troops to forcibly remove Muslims and Christians – like my cousins – from Gaza, then not only will the US be mired in another reckless occupation but it will also be guilty of the crime of ethnic cleansing. No American of good conscience should stand for this.”
The US president called Gaza a “symbol of death and destruction” and that the only reason people want to go back there is because they have nowhere else to go. The 1.8 million Palestinians living in Gaza should move to neighbouring countries with “humanitarian hearts” and “great wealth”, Trump said. Earlier he had called for Jordan, Egypt and other Arab states to take in Palestinians. He said they could be split up across a number of separate sites. Forced displacement of the population would probably be a violation of international law and would be fiercely opposed not only in the region but also by Washington’s western allies. Some human rights advocates liken the idea to ethnic cleansing.
He went on to say that Gaza could become “the Riviera of the Middle East” where “the world’s people” could live there, echoing the previous sentiments of his son-in-law Jared Kushner, who said Gaza had very valuable “waterfront property”.
Trump gave a vague answer when asked a question on whether he supported a two-state solution. Asked if his view that Palestinians should be relocated from Gaza was a sign that he was against the two-state policy that has been the foreign policy approach of the United States for decades, Trump said no. “It doesn’t mean anything about a two-state or one state or any other state. It means that we want to have, we want to give people a chance at life,” he said. “They have never had a chance at life because the Gaza Strip has been a hellhole for people living there. It’s been horrible.”
Trump claimed high-level support among unnamed leaders he had spoken to. “This is not a decision made lightly,” he said, adding that “everybody I’ve spoken to loves the idea of the United States owning that piece of land.” He said the move would bring “great stability to that part of the Middle East”.
Trump did not rule out sending US troops to secure Gaza. “As far as Gaza is concerned, we’ll do what is necessary. If it’s necessary, we’ll do that,” he said. On Trump’s idea of taking over Gaza, Netanyahu said the US president “sees a different future for Gaza”, adding: “I think it’s something that could change history.”
Trump said he would probably announce a position on Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank in the next month. “We haven’t been taking the position on it yet,” he said. Trump added that he planned to visit the Gaza Strip, Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Netanyahu described Trump as “the greatest friend Israel has ever had in the White House”. The Israeli leader said “we have to finish the job in Gaza”, and said “Israel will end the war by winning the war.” Netanyahu praised Trump for “thinking outside the box with fresh ideas” and “showing willingness to puncture conventional thinking”.
Welcome to Trumpworld, a political sketch
The Guardian’s David Smith has put together this sketch of the mood in the White House today.
“The venerable East Room, where Abraham Lincoln lay in state and Pablo Casals played cello, had turned into a mosh pit. Sweaty reporters, photographers and camera crews were crammed elbow to elbow. The Guardian shoehorned its way into a corner where a panel had fallen off the wall. Never used to happened in Joe Biden’s day.
The president began by boasting about how he got a “beautiful” US embassy built in Jerusalem, ranting about his predecessor and giving a shout out to his staff. So far, so Trump. But then things turned weird. Very weird.”
Read his first-person account of the day below:
A better life 'not necessarily tied to the physical space' says US Middle East envoy
US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff tells Fox News that Trump’s Gaza plans would give Palestinians “more hope” for a better future.
Speaking to host Sean Hannity, Witkoff said Gaza would probably be “inhabitable” for the next 10-15 years.
“Everybody wants to see peace in the region... A better life is not necessarily tied to the physical space that you’re in today. A better life is about better opportunity, better financial conditions, better aspirations for you and your family.
“That doesn’t occur because you get to pitch a tent in the Gaza Strip and you’re surrounded by 30,000 munitions that could go off at any moment. It’s a dangerous place to live today and the president is saying, ‘let’s make it better for these people.’”
Israel's former national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir hails Trump's plan
“Donald, this looks like the beginning of a beautiful friendship,” the Israeli far-right politician wrote on X after Trump’s shock remarks.
Trump’s comments on Tuesday were not the first time he has suggested turning the home of 1.8 million Palestinians into a business opportunity for developers.
They echo comments he made during his presidential campaign, and that is his son in law and former White House adviser, Jared Kushner, made in March last year.
Kushner praised the “very valuable” potential of Gaza’s “waterfront property” and suggested Israel should remove civilians while it “cleans up” the strip. The Guardian’s Patrick Wintour reported the comments on 19 March 2024.
Trump repeated the sentiments while campaigning in late 2024. On 7 October 2024, the one-year anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel, Trump told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, “They’d have, there was no ocean as far as that was concerned. They never took advantage of it. You know, as a developer, it could be the most beautiful place – the weather, the water, the whole thing, the climate.”
Hewitt had asked Trump if Gaza “could be Monaco” and Trump said it could be “better than Monaco”.
Bernie Sanders warned undecided voters in October, saying, “Trump has said Netanyahu is doing a good job and has said Biden is ‘holding him back.’ He has suggested that the Gaza Strip would make excellent beachfront property for development. And it is no wonder than Netanyahu prefers to have Donald Trump in office.”
Kushner, a former property dealer who is married to Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka, made his comments in an interview at Harvard University on 15 February 2024.
Kushner said at the time that he thought Israel should move civilians from Gaza to the Negev desert in southern Israel. He said that if he were in charge of Israel his number one priority would be getting civilians out of the southern city of Rafah, and that “with diplomacy” it could be possible to get them into Egypt.
“But in addition to that, I would just bulldoze something in the Negev, I would try to move people in there,” he said. “I think that’s a better option, so you can go in and finish the job.”
He reiterated the point a little later, saying: “I do think right now opening up the Negev, creating a secure area there, moving the civilians out, and then going in and finishing the job would be the right move.”
Saudi Arabia said it would not establish ties with Israel without the creation of a Palestinian state
Saudi Arabia said it would not establish ties with Israel without the creation of a Palestinian state, contradicting President Donald Trump’s claim that Riyadh was not demanding a Palestinian homeland when he said the US wants to take over the Gaza Strip.
Saudi Arabia rejects any attempts to displace the Palestinians from their land, Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday, adding that its stance towards the Palestinians is not negotiable.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has affirmed the kingdom’s position in ‘a clear and explicit manner’ that does not allow for any interpretation under any circumstances, the statement said.
Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese reiterates nation's position
Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, says his government continues to support a two-state solution in the Middle East, “where both Israelis and Palestinians could live in peace and security.”
“We’ve supported a ceasefire, we’ve supported hostages being released and we’ve supported aid getting into Gaza,” he told reporters Wednesday in Canberra when asked about Trump’s remarks. “That is consistent with what Australia governments have always done, which is to provide support.”
Albanese did not directly respond to reporters’ questions about how he would characterise Trump’s Gaza plan.
“I’m not going to have a running commentary on statements by the president of the United States,” he said. “I’ve made that very clear.”
Updated
Hamas official describes Trump's Gaza remarks as 'absurb'
Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said on Wednesday that US President Donald Trump’s remarks about taking over the Gaza Strip were ‘ridiculous’ and ‘absurd’.
“Trump’s remarks about his desire to control Gaza are ridiculous and absurd, and any ideas of this kind are capable of igniting the region,” Abu Zuhri told Reuters.
The state of Gaza today
In the first phase of the ceasefire, Palestinians in Gaza have been able to return home in recent weeks, many to buildings and homes now in ruins.
A UN damage assessment released last month showed that clearing more than 50 million tonnes of rubble left in the aftermath of Israel’s bombardment could take 21 years and cost up to $1.2 billion, Reuters reports.
The debris is believed to be contaminated with asbestos, with some refugee camps struck during the war known to have been built with the material. The rubble also likely holds human remains. The Palestinian health ministry estimates that 10,000 bodies are missing under the debris.
A United Nations Development Programme official said in January that development in Gaza has been set back by 69 years as a result of the conflict.
How long would it take to rebuild Gaza?
Rebuilding Gaza’s shattered homes will take at least until 2040, but could drag on for many decades, according to a UN report released last year.
Two-thirds of Gaza’s pre-war structures - over 170,000 buildings - have been damaged or flattened, according to UN satellite data (UNOSAT) in December. That amounts to around 69% of the total structures in the Gaza Strip.
What is the extent of infrastructure damage?
The estimated damage to infrastructure totalled $18.5 billion as of end-January 2024, affecting residential buildings, commerce, industry, and essential services such as education, health, and energy, a UN-World Bank report said. An update by the UN humanitarian office in January showed that less than a quarter of the pre-war water supplies were available, while at least 68% of the road network has been damaged.
Palestinian data shows that the conflict has led to the destruction of over 200 government facilities, 136 schools and universities, 823 mosques and three churches. Many hospitals have been damaged during the conflict, with only 17 out of 36 units partially functional as of January, the UN humanitarian office’s report showed.
Updated
Trump offered almost no specifics on his extraordinary proposal to “take ownership” of Gaza, and dodged questions on the legality of the US to carry out that plan.
Prior to his meeting with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, Amnesty international criticised the US leader on another matter of international law.
Amnesty said the US was “showing contempt for international justice” by failing to arrest Netanyahu, despite the international criminal court issuing a warrant for his arrest in November last year.
Netanyahu is wanted by the ICC to face charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
In a series of posts on X, Amnesty wrote:
“By welcoming Israeli PM Netanyahu, wanted by the ICC to face charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, the United States is showing contempt for international justice.
“Complying with ICC arrest warrants & pursuing accountability in domestic courts is crucial to bring to justice those responsible for Israel’s genocide in Gaza and the continued dispossession and oppression of Palestinians under Israel’s unlawful occupation and system of apartheid.”
It’s only weeks into US president Donald Trump’s second term but his Gaza proposal is not the first time Trump has issued off-piste and expansionist declarations.
As the Guardian’s David Smith writes, Trump previously threatened Greenland and Panama and suggested that Canada should become the 51st state. Gaza is the latest on his list.
Read his full report on today’s events below:
'Make Gaza beautiful again,' says US secretary of state Marco Rubio
“Gaza MUST BE FREE from Hamas,” Rubio wrote in a post on X, “As @POTUS shared today, the United States stands ready to lead and Make Gaza Beautiful Again. Our pursuit is one of lasting peace in the region for all people.”
Updated
Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib has joined a chorus of criticism from US Democrats of Trump’s plan to resettle Palestinians outside of Gaza, likening the proposal to “ethnic cleansing”.
“This president is openly calling for ethnic cleansing while sitting next to a genocidal war criminal,” Tlaib, said in a post on X.
“He’s perfectly fine cutting off working Americans from federal funds while the funding to the Israeli government continues flowing.”
Updated
Protests outside the White House
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered outside the White House as US president Donald Trump met with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The demonstrations occurred as Trump delivered his shock proposal to “take ownership” of Gaza, suggesting it had the potential to become the “Riviera of the Middle East.”
Among those protesting were anti-Zionist orthodox Jews.
Gaza will 'probably be uninhabitable for 10-15 years', says US Middle East envoy
US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff previously told Axios that Gaza will probably be uninhabitable for 10-15 years.
“What was inescapable is that there is almost nothing left of Gaza,” Witkoff told Axios after returning from his recent trip to the Middle East.
“People are moving north to get back to their homes and see what happened and turn around and leave ... there is no water and no electricity. It is stunning just how much damage occurred there,” he said.
Witkoff, a real estate developer, described what he saw from a helicopter flight over Gaza.
“There has been this perception we can get to a solid plan for Gaza in five years,” he told Axios, “But its impossible. This is a 10 to 15 year rebuilding plan,” he said.
Updated
Opening summary
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of developments in the Middle East after US president Donald Trump outlined an extraordinary proposal for the US to take “ownership” of Gaza.
In a joint press conference, Trump and Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, addressed reporters at the White House, where the US president announced his intention to take over the Gaza Strip, move Palestinians to neighbouring countries and redevelop the territory for occupation by “the world’s people”.
If you are just catching up with the latest, here is what you need to know:
Trump said the US will “take over” and “own” the Gaza Strip. The US president said he envisioned a “long-term” US ownership of the territory after all Palestinians were moved elsewhere. He did not explain how and under what authority the US can take over the land of Gaza. “We will own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site,” he said. He said the US would “level” destroyed buildings and “create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area.”
The Saudi government, in a statement, stressed its rejection of any attempt to displace Palestinians from their land and said it would not establish relations with Israel without establishment of a Palestinian state. Meanwhile Hamas condemned Trump’s calls for Palestinians in Gaza to leave as “expulsion from their land”. The Palestinian envoy to the United Nations said that world leaders and people should respect Palestinians’ desire to remain in Gaza.
Several Democrats slammed Trump’s plan with Democratic senator Chris Murphy saying of Trump: “He’s totally lost it.” “A US invasion of Gaza would lead to the slaughter of thousands of US troops and decades of war in the Middle East. It’s like a bad, sick joke.” Democratic representative Jake Auchincloss described the proposal as “reckless and unreasonable” and called for an examination of Trump’s motives, which he said often contained a “nepotistic, self-serving connection”.
Some Republicans have derided the proposal. Justin Amash, a former Republican member of Congress whose father was expelled from his home by Israeli forces in 1948, was appalled. “If the United States deploys troops to forcibly remove Muslims and Christians – like my cousins – from Gaza, then not only will the US be mired in another reckless occupation but it will also be guilty of the crime of ethnic cleansing. No American of good conscience should stand for this.”
The US president called Gaza a “symbol of death and destruction” and that the only reason people want to go back there is because they have nowhere else to go. The 1.8 million Palestinians living in Gaza should move to neighbouring countries with “humanitarian hearts” and “great wealth”, Trump said. Earlier he had called for Jordan, Egypt and other Arab states to take in Palestinians. He said they could be split up across a number of separate sites. Forced displacement of the population would probably be a violation of international law and would be fiercely opposed not only in the region but also by Washington’s western allies. Some human rights advocates liken the idea to ethnic cleansing.
He went on to say that Gaza could become “the Riviera of the Middle East” where “the world’s people” could live there, echoing the previous sentiments of his son-in-law Jared Kushner, who said Gaza had very valuable “waterfront property”.
Trump gave a vague answer when asked a question on whether he supported a two-state solution. Asked if his view that Palestinians should be relocated from Gaza was a sign that he was against the two-state policy that has been the foreign policy approach of the United States for decades, Trump said no. “It doesn’t mean anything about a two-state or one state or any other state. It means that we want to have, we want to give people a chance at life,” he said. “They have never had a chance at life because the Gaza Strip has been a hellhole for people living there. It’s been horrible.”
Trump claimed high-level support among unnamed leaders he had spoken to. “This is not a decision made lightly,” he said, adding that “everybody I’ve spoken to loves the idea of the United States owning that piece of land.” He said the move would bring “great stability to that part of the Middle East”.
Trump did not rule out sending US troops to secure Gaza. “As far as Gaza is concerned, we’ll do what is necessary. If it’s necessary, we’ll do that,” he said. On Trump’s idea of taking over Gaza, Netanyahu said the US president “sees a different future for Gaza”, adding: “I think it’s something that could change history.”
Trump said he would probably announce a position on Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank in the next month. “We haven’t been taking the position on it yet,” he said. Trump added that he planned to visit the Gaza Strip, Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Netanyahu described Trump as “the greatest friend Israel has ever had in the White House”. The Israeli leader said “we have to finish the job in Gaza”, and said “Israel will end the war by winning the war.” Netanyahu praised Trump for “thinking outside the box with fresh ideas” and “showing willingness to puncture conventional thinking”.
