US President Donald Trump has seemingly confirmed his controversial plan to “take over” Gaza will not include the right of return for the Palestinians currently living there.
Instead, the plan would see them permanently relocated to neighbouring countries while the war-torn territory is redeveloped into what Trump envisions as the “Riviera of the Middle East”.
Trump revealed his proposal during a summit with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week, suggesting Gaza’s nearly 2 million Palestinian residents move to other regions, with the ultimate goal of transforming the territory. And while the concept has been described as some kind of real estate venture, it’s raised significant concerns about the human cost and assumptions about who gets to determine the future of Gaza’s residents.
One of the most troubling aspects of Trump’s proposal is his latest insistence that Palestinians who are relocated will not be allowed to return to Gaza.
In an interview with Fox News on Monday, Trump explained that the displaced Palestinians would be given “much better housing” in new, safer locations, far removed from the dangers of Gaza.
“We’ll build safe communities a little bit away from where they are, where all of this danger is,” he said.
“In other words, I’m talking about building a permanent place for them because if they have to return now, it’ll be years before you could ever – it’s not habitable.”
The president continued that the revamped destination would be “a beautiful piece of land”, per ABC News.
“In the meantime, I would own this,” he said.
“Think of it as a real estate development for the future.”
It’s a marked departure from previous statements made by his own administration last week which described the relocation as “temporary”, with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt and Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisting the president only wanted Palestinians relocated from Gaza for an “interim” period to allow for debris removal and reconstruction, per ABC News.
It’s worth noting that the plan raises critical questions about both its legality and its feasibility. Trump has previously suggested resettling Palestinians in Egypt or Jordan, but both countries have rejected the idea.
And as reported by The Guardian, no formal discussions have taken place between the U.S. State Department or the Pentagon on how such a massive relocation would even be carried out.
Meanwhile, critics argue the proposal — which would forcibly displace an entire population — represents a clear violation of international law.
Speaking to US media outlet POLITICO on Sunday, Navi Pillay, head of U.N. Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, described the plan as “ethnic cleansing”.
“Trump is woefully ignorant of international law and the law of occupation. Forcible displacement of an occupied group is an international crime, and amounts to ethnic cleansing,” she stated.
“There is no way under the law that Trump could carry out the threat to dislocate Palestinians from their land”.
Over in Australia, the plan has been met with mixed reactions. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stopped short of direct criticism, telling the ABC‘s News Breakfast he wouldn’t offer a “running commentary” on Trump’s shifting positions.
He also told Sky News that he still backs a “a two-state solution in the Middle East, that’s been longstanding bipartisan policy”.
Meanwhile Opposition Leader Peter Dutton praised Trump as a “big thinker” whose unconventional approach could break the Middle East deadlock.
However, Opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson reiterated the party still supports a “two-state solution negotiated between the parties in Israel and Palestine”, per News.com.au.
“We would have to understand more about it, but it hasn’t changed our longstanding view,” he said.
As the proposal continues to draw criticism, the fate of Gaza’s residents remains uncertain.
Phase two of the three-phase deal for a ceasefire between Israel and Gaza is believed to be ongoing, per SBS Australia.
Lead image: Ting Shen and Doaa Albaz / Getty Images
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