U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday that he remains committed to the U.S. purchasing and owning Gaza, but that he may allow Middle Eastern countries to rebuild sections of the area ravaged by the Israel-Hamas war.
Trump made the comment when speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on his way to New Orleans for the Super Bowl.
‘I’m committed to buying and owning Gaza,’ Trump said. ‘As far as us rebuilding it, we may give it to other states in the Middle East to build sections of it, other people may do it, through our auspices. But we’re committed to owning it, taking it, and making sure that Hamas doesn’t move back.’
‘There’s nothing to move back into. The place is a demolition site. The remainder will be demolished. Everything’s demolished,’ he said.
The president also said he was open to the possibility of allowing some Palestinian refugees into the U.S. but that those requests would be handled on a case-by-case basis.
Trump said last week at a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he wants the U.S. to take over Gaza after Palestinians are resettled in other countries.
‘The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it, too,’ Trump said at the time. ‘We’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous, unexplored bombs and other weapons on the site.’
‘Level the site and get rid of the destroyed buildings, level it out, create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area,’ he added. ‘Do a real job. Do something different. Just can’t go back. If you go back, it’s going to end up the same way it has for 100 years.’
Several countries have criticized Trump’s comments about taking over Gaza, which was bombarded by Israeli forces in the conflict sparked by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack against the Jewish State.
Trump also said on Jan. 25 that he wanted Jordan, Egypt and other Arab nations to accept more Palestinian refugees from Gaza, potentially moving out enough people to ‘just clean out’ the area.
‘You’re talking about probably a million and a half people, and we just clean out that whole thing and say, ‘You know, it’s over,” he said at the time.
Palestinians feared during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, which is now under a ceasefire, that they would suffer from another ‘Nakba,’ meaning catastrophe in Arabic, which refers to the displacement and dispossession of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians during the 1948 war at the birth of the State of Israel.
Earlier on Sunday, Israeli President Isaac Herzog told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo when asked about Trump’s plan to take over Gaza that the U.S. president was slated to meet with Jordan’s King Abdullah II, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and possibly Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
‘President Trump is due to meet with major, major Arab leaders, first and foremost the king of Jordan and the president of Egypt and I think also the crown prince of Saudi Arabia as well,’ Herzog said.
‘These are partners that must be listened to, they must be discussed with. We have to honor their feelings as well and see how we build a plan that is sustainable for the future,’ he added.
Saudi Arabia is among the many countries that have rejected Trump’s plan to take over Gaza. Jordan’s King Abdullah II reportedly plans to tell Trump during their scheduled meeting on Tuesday that the proposal is a recipe for radicalism that will spread chaos throughout the Middle East and put at risk the kingdom’s peace with Israel.
Reuters contributed to this report.