Ahmed Asmar
06 February 2025•Update: 06 February 2025
- He backs Trump’s plan, saying it would allow 'Gazans who want to leave to leave,' but Palestinians and neighboring states have denounced proposal
ANKARA
Despite a firestorm of international criticism, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday praised US President Donald Trump's plan for taking over Gaza as "remarkable" and a "first good idea."
Speaking to Fox News, a staunchly pro-Israel outlet, Netanyahu voiced support for Trump’s plan, saying it would allow “Gazans who want to leave to leave."
"I mean, what's wrong with that? They can leave, they can then come back, they can relocate and come back. But you have to rebuild Gaza," he said. Gaza has been devastated by some 15 months of a relentless Israeli offensive which has also killed over 47,000 Palestinians. Most press accounts have said the plan amounts to making Palestinians forcibly leave Gaza.
Trump said Tuesday that Palestinians “have no alternative” but to leave Gaza, saying it is a “big pile of rubble” and that they would be resettled while Gaza will be owned by the US, which would develop it into something “magnificent.”
Of the widely denounced plan, Netanyahu said: "This is the first good idea that I have heard, it's a remarkable idea and I think it should be really pursued, examined ... and done."
Netanyahu went on to say that the plan "will create a different future for everyone."
He did not specify how many years it would take to rebuild Gaza or when its people could return.
Netanyahu also asserted that Trump did not say that the US would fund the plan but that instead "neighboring states, wealthy states will do it," yet did not specify any state that would do so.
On US troops possibly coming to Gaza, Netanyahu said Trump was not referring to sending US troops to fight Hamas in Gaza, stressing that this is Israel's commitment, "that's our job and we (are) absolutely committed to it."
Trump told a Tuesday news conference alongside Netanyahu that the “US will take over the Gaza Strip,” after resettling Palestinians elsewhere.
Trump has repeatedly suggested that Palestinians in Gaza should be taken in by regional Arab nations such as Egypt and Jordan, an idea rejected by both the Arab states and Palestinian leaders.
The proposal has been rejected worldwide by a host of countries in the Middle East, Europe, and beyond, including China, Türkiye, Palestine, and Saudi Arabia. Some have said the plan amounts to ethnic cleansing.
Trump’s proposal to relocate Palestinians in Gaza came after a ceasefire agreement took effect in the enclave on Jan. 19, suspending Israel’s genocidal war, which has also injured over 111,000 people and crippled the enclave’s public infrastructure.
