In one of the most amazing ads in decades of history of the Middle East, and in a radical turn to Washington’s policy in the region, the president of the United States, Donald Trump, has broken up on Tuesday his plan, even more radical That was expected, for the future of Gaza. His country “will take control” of the strip, “will possess” and demolish to rebuild it so that he becomes the “riviera of the Middle East” in which he will live “people of the world”, after displacing by force in form ” permanent ”to its inhabitants.
“The United States will take charge of the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it too. We will be their owners and we will be responsible for dismantling all the dangerous bombs without exploiting and other weapons in the place […] If necessary, we will do it, we will take care of that part, we will develop it, we will create thousands and thousands of jobs, and it will be something that every near east may be very proud, ”Trump added at a press conference with a first Israeli Minister, Benjamín Netanyahu, who did not hide his satisfaction and defined him as “the best friend Israel has ever had in the White House.”
Trump has reiterated his proposal to relocate the inhabitants of Gaza in Egypt, Jordan “and many other countries”, but adding that it would be “permanent” and pointing out that Gaza would become an “international” place in which “too” They could live Palestinians.
He did not specify how he intends to execute a proposal that contravenes international law, an entire UN resolutions and does not take into account the will of the Gazaties. Nor does it seem like a great obstacle, it seems, the closed opposition of Jordan and Egypt to a plan that endangers its own stability: “I have the feeling that even if they say no, the king of Jordan (Abdalá II) and the (President ) From Egypt, Abdelfatá el sisi, they will open their hearts and give us the type of land we need to achieve this and that people can live in peace and harmony, ”he said.
The solution of the two states, Israel and Palestine, which has been the official policy of the United States for decades and that the administration of Democrat Joe Biden planned as the ultimate goal of negotiations on the future of Gaza, seems dead and buried. “We have treated the other way for decades and decades. It will not work. It has never worked, and will never work. You have to learn from history. History cannot continue to repeat. ”
Netanyahu has supported Trump’s initiative for the US to take control of Gaza. “I think it is something that can change the story” of the Middle East, he said in the press conference, before praising the new US president for “bringing to a much greater level” the third objective of the invasion of the strip: ” Make sure it never supposes a threat to Israel again. ”
Before the unexpected announcement, Trump had already insisted on his idea of expelling 1.8 million Palestinians from the strip and resetting them in other countries. But he had not raised until now that the United States was to take care of the territory in one of the most spiny areas in the world. On the other hand, since he assumed power on January 20, he had rejected any possibility of being involved in neighboring Syria.
“We are going to make sure that something spectacular is done,” Trump said in a press conference in which sometimes it sounded more like the former real estate promoter that was that the statesman who aspires to be. “They will have peace … the only reason why the Palestinians want to return to Gaza is that they have no alternative. But now it is a demolition site. Practically each building is collapsed, they live under cement debris, it is very dangerous. Instead, they can occupy a beautiful area with homes and security, live their lives in peace and harmony, ”he said.
Previously, a senior official had tried to clarify the master lines of a plan that has already received a sharp Arab rejection, and assured that the US president did not try to impose a solution, but to collaborate with Arabs and Israelis.
The and Iran’s nuclear program were going to be the leading issues of the meeting divided into two parts – finding and a work dinner – between Netanyahu and Trump. A conversation in which both have reset a personal relationship rather than stormy between them, but that was of enormous political convenience for the two leaders during the first mandate of the Republican. And it will be, according to what is announced at the press conference, a sweet honeymoon in its second legislature. Immediately before the meeting, Trump signed an executive order in which he declared the return to the era of “maximum pressure” against Iran: “I hope we do not have to use it much,” he said at the signature ceremony in the Oval Office, “It is very hard against Tehran.”
The encounter between them had the format of the great occasions. A solo meeting between the two and its closest advisors, first. Another, with its complete teams, immediately after. And later a work dinner, preceded by a press conference with all the alharacas in the east room of the White House, the largest dimensions of the entire presidential residence.
The moment of his talks was key. In the Middle East, the negotiations for the second phase of the Alto El Fuego Agreement in Gaza and the exchange of prisoners between Israel and the Islamist group of Hamás should have already begun. The truce is sustained delicate; In Lebanon, the Fire high pact between Israel and Hezbollah could expire in the coming weeks; Iran is an unknown, after its allied militias have been seriously punished.
The second phase of Alto El Fuego in Gaza, after the first six weeks that began on January 19, foresees the withdrawal of the occupation troops of the strip and the return of the rest of hostages, both living and dead. But the pressures of the most radical wing of the government led by Netanyahu have unleashed the questions about what may happen: they demand the prime minister to start the summary of his army, once the first six weeks has been exceeded.
Everything in the press conference has been so surprising that the Israeli forum that represents the families of the hostages and presses to complete the high fire in Gaza has canceled, without specifying the reasons, the reaction that I had planned as soon as it ended.
Nakba memory
In such a crop broth, it falls like a pump. The idea of a forced displacement of the Gazatí population sounds different in Washington or Israel, where a majority supports it (according to a survey released on Tuesday) and has received the support of right -wing politicians both in the government and in the opposition. Instead, it has generated the frontal rejection of Palestinians and Arab countries. What Trump proposes is the second edition of La Nakba, the ethnic cleaning that occurred between 1947 and 1949, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were expelled before the progress of the Zionist militias and, after the creation of the state of Israel and The beginning of the first war with the Arab neighbors. Three quarters of the century later, the Palestinian refugees are today millions, by adding their descendants (among them most of the Gazaties) and have never been able to return to homes of those who said goodbye believing that they would be back in a matter of weeks.
One of the great ambitions of the two leaders is to close the normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, the process that was interrupted by the outbreak of the war in Gaza after the attacks of Hamas of October 7, 2023. “The expansion of Abraham’s agreements, “not only with Riyadh, but with other Arab and Muslim countries,” will continue and flourish during this administration, “he underlined the high position. “It’s something that will take time, but is at the top of our priorities.”
The two leaders also approached the Iranian nuclear program, against which a plethoric Netanyahu after the blows to Hezbolá in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza has been increasingly willing to go for all. According to the newspaper Yediot Aharonot, The Israeli believes that alone, for Iran, the domino effect of normalization of relations with his country will be possible.
Riad is one of the five countries that, together with the Arab League and the Palestinian National Authority, has signed a letter to the Trump administration trying to offer an alternative to the Palestinian forced displacement. After the press conference, his Foreign Ministry has underlined the “firmness” of his position: he will only normalize his relations with Israel when he believes a political route towards a Palestinian state. Trump had just said that Saudi Arabia does not put that condition, which clashes with the demands of Netanyahu’s ultras partners, who dream of recolonizing Gaza. He also opposes the creation of a Palestinian state.
After going to the White House, Netanyahu plans to dialogue separately on Wednesday with the Minister of National Security, Mike Walz, and Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth. On Thursday he will dedicate him to meetings in the Capitol with the leaders of the Senate and the House of Representatives and other legislators.
