Trump Insists On Gaza Takeover Despite UK, France, Palestine Rejections
US President Donald Trump has ruled out the deployment of soldiers to the war-torn Gaza Strip, saying Israel will transfer the control of the city to the U.S after the war.
Trump disclosed this on Thursday in a post on his Truth Social platform, barely a day after he announced the plan by the U.S to take over Gaza permanently and resettle its palestinian residents.
“The Gaza Strip would be turned over to the United States by Israel at the conclusion of fighting,” Trump said.
The U.S. President said Palestinians “would have already been resettled in far safer and more beautiful communities, with new and modern homes, in the region,” adding that “No soldiers by the U.S. would be needed, stability for the region would reign!”
Trump’s comments on Gaza led to widespread criticisms from Palestinians, allies and other nations.
During a news conference with Israeli President, Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Tuesday, Trump hinted that it would be a “long-term ownership position” as Gaza will become the “Riviera of the Middle East”
He said, “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.
“We will Level the site and get rid of the destroyed buildings and create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area.
“(Palestinians) Just can’t go back. If you go back, it’s going to be the same way it has for 100 years,” Trump stated.
Responding, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas criticized Trump’s proposed action and called on the United Nations (UN) to “protect the Palestinian people and their inalienable rights,” saying what Trump wants to do would be “a serious violation of international law.”
UK’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy said it would support a two-state leadership in Gaza and not a resettlement.
“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”, Lammy said.
The ceasefire deal resumed on January 19, but 15 months of fighting have devastated the coastal Palestinian territory, displacing about 90% of its residents and causing extensive infrastructural damage.
The death toll is above 46,000, as reported by the Hamas-run health ministry. Aside from this, the UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) has warned it will take 21 years just to clear the debris and explosive remnants of war
“The significant and growing environmental damage in Gaza risks locking its people into a painful, long recovery,” UNEP executive director Inger Andersen said.
Trump Insists On Gaza Takeover Despite UK, France, Palestine Rejections is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
