Alongside Benjamin Netanyahu, US president said the United States will be the owners of the territory and will do a ‘good job’
The president made a surprising announcement on Tuesday (4) by stating that the “They will take control” of a proposal that can “change history,” according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Republican has again asked Palestinians to leave the territory plagued by war to live in countries such as Egypt and Jordan, despite the opposition of the latter and the Palestinians themselves.
“The United States will take control of the Gaza Strip and we will also do a good job,” said the US president. “We will be her owners and we will be responsible for the dismantling of all the dangerous non -detonated bombs and other weapons in this place,” said the US president alongside Netanyahu, with whom he gathered at the White House.
According to him, the United States will “level the place and get rid of the destroyed buildings” to economically develop the territory and have “unlimited amount of employment and housing for people in the area.” Trump, however, did not specify how he thinks of doing this. He merely said that it is a “long-term” project and that other countries told him that they are admired with the idea.
“It was not a light -moving decision,” he said, and said he would like to turn the territory into the “Blue Middle East Coast.” But it seemed to suggest that it would not be the Palestinians who would return to the track. “It should not go through a process of reconstruction and occupation by the same people who were really there and fought for it, and lived there and died there, and lived a miserable existence there,” he said.
‘For other countries’
For Trump, the two million inhabitants of Gaza should “go to other countries.” Netanyahu, who called Trump as the “best friend Israel has ever had,” believes Washington’s plan to Gaza can “change the story” and worth “paying attention.”
In addition, he stated that a standardization agreement of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel “will happen.” Riyadh, however, ruled out a few hours later formalizing diplomatic relations with Israel, unless it is established “a Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem as its capital.”
A few days ago, Trump caused indignation to the international community by proposing the “cleaning” of the Gaza strip with the transfer of Palestinians to “safer” places such as Jordan and Egypt, which they completely discarded. The Palestinian envoy before the UN stressed that the world leaders should “respect” the wishes of the Palestinians.
The inhabitants of Gaza also denounced the idea. “Trump thinks Gaza is a bunch of garbage, certainly not,” said Hatem Azam, 34, a resident of the city of Rafah. The US President attributed to himself the merit of the first six -week phase of the truce reached between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, after more than 15 months of fighting and bombing.
‘Let’s try’
“Let’s try,” Netanyahu said when asked if he was optimistic about the passage to the second stage. Hours before the visit, Israel announced the sending of a team to Qatar, one of the mediating countries, to address the second phase of the agreement. According to Hamas, the negotiations began. Due to the first phase, Israelis and Palestinians performed a change of hostages and prisoners. Eighteen hostages have been released so far in exchange for about 600 detainees of Israeli arrests, mostly Palestinians.
The truce allowed to increase the supply of food, fuel and medical assistance in Gaza, and the return of displaced people to the north of the Palestinian territory. Since the ceasefire came into force in Gaza on January 19, Israel launched an operation against militants in northern the occupied West Bank.
The war began after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, causing the death of 1,210 people, according to an AFP balance based on official data. In addition, they brought to Gaza 251 hostages, of which 76 are still kept in Palestinian territory, including 34 that the Israeli army believes they are dead.
Israel responded with an air and terrestrial campaign against Gaza that devastated the territory and left at least 47,487 dead, according to data from the Ministry of Health of the Hamas Government, which the UN considers reliable.
*With information from AFP
Posted by Victor Oliveira
