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“…“The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip and we’ll do a job with it, too. We’ll own it,” Trump said.
“I do see a long-term ownership position, and I see it bringing great stability to that part of the Middle East, and maybe the entire Middle East.”
Trump suggested that U.S. troops would be used, if needed, to implement his vision for Gaza.
He presented this idea, one never before suggested by a U.S. president or Middle East peace negotiator, as a way to end generations of conflict between Israel and the Palestinians and, also, as a bonus, an opportunity to create sweet real-estate development opportunities.
The idea was breathtaking in its audacity, and it would be fair to say that its implementation would run into myriad obstacles at home and abroad, except that the overwhelming likelihood is that the U.S. would never come near implementing this notion.
Trump’s proposal to displace 2.2 million Palestinian residents from their homes, which he expanded on today, has already angered the Arab world.
A direct American intervention in Gaza would radically expand the U.S. footprint in the Middle East, giving it possession of a territory devastated by 15 months of fighting between Hamas and the Israel Defense Forces, ignited by the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. And it could further destabilize a region never known for its stability.
… Trump’s Gaza plan, were it to be carried out, would appear to be a remarkable win for the far-right members in Netanyahu’s governing coalition, who have longed for permanent Israeli expansion into both Gaza and the West Bank.
Netanyahu—a longtime Trump ally, and the first foreign leader to visit the White House in the president’s second term—suggested that he was open to the idea, noting that Trump “sees a different future for that piece of land.”
He added: “It’s worth paying attention to this. We’re talking about it. It’s something that could change history.”
… One White House official told me that Trump’s comments were not a spur-of-the-moment suggestion but reflective of a newfound, postelection confidence that he could put together the ultimate deal and change decades of history. …”
