President Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday and announced a plan for the U.S. to “own” Gaza.
Own it? How did that concept get on the table?
President Trump said this: “The U.S. will take over the Gaza strip and we’ll do a job with it too. We will own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous, unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site, level the site, get rid of destroyed buildings, create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area. Do a real job, do something different. You just can’t go back. If you go back, it’s going to end up the same way as 100 years.”
As he said this as Netanyahu nodded along. He also said that after the U.S. completes this “beautiful rehab,” Palestinians would have the right of return, along with many other “people of the world.” Maybe he sees Gaza like the next Dubai?
But who are “the people of the area”? Are they the same ones that “can’t go back”? Or are the Palestinians the ones that “can’t go back” and the “people of the area” mean Israelis? It’s hard to know for sure. Some say that what the U.S. is doing is keeping it out of Israel’s control so that they are forced to honor the ceasefire. That seems optimistic. It is hardly the two-state solution that the U.S. has always diplomatically supported.
And who will do this beautiful job? American troops? Do Republicans think that this is why they won the 2024 election?
In an earlier meeting, President Trump said that he would like to see Palestinians “resettled permanently in nice homes. where they can be happy and not be shot and not be killed.”
He said that while sitting next to the person that shoots and kills them.
He continued: “I don’t think people should be going back to Gaza. I think Gaza has been very unlucky for them. They’ve lived like hell, they’ve lived like you’re living in hell. Gaza is not a place for people to be living. And the only reason they want to go back, and I believe this strongly, is because they have no alternative.”
Hamas leaders say that they won’t go for this. Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said this, according to Al Jazeera: “Our people in the Gaza Strip will not allow these plans to pass. What is required is an end to the occupation and aggression against our people, not their expulsion from their land.”
The Trump administration also announced this tough stance on Iran and its nuclear program. Iran is Israel’s main enemy so it is no coincidence this happened during Netanyahu’s visit.
