Trump says US will take over Gaza - latest developments and reactions

The US president's comments about turning Gaza into a 'Riviera of the Middle East' have faced widespread condemnation.

President Donald Trump greets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he arrives at the West Wing of the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Donald Trump greets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he arrives at the West Wing of the White House. (AP)

Donald Trump's proposal for the US to take over war-ruined Gaza and create a "Riviera of the Middle East" after resettling Palestinians elsewhere has drawn global condemnation.

The shock move from Trump drew criticism from Russia, China and Germany, which said it would bring "new suffering and new hatred." Saudi Arabia, a significant player in the Middle East, rejected the proposal outright.

It is unclear how Trump plans to follow up his controversial proposal - and whether he is simply taking a bargaining position. On Wednesday - less than 24 hours after his initial comments during an extraordinary press conference with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu - Trump insisted of his plan: "Everybody loves it.":

Soon after, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt insisted Trump believes the US needs to be involved in the rebuilding of Gaza "to ensure stability in the region." "That does not mean boots on the ground in Gaza," she added.

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Leavitt also said Trump wants to see Palestinians who live in Gaza "temporarily relocated" in order for the enclave to be rebuilt - despite Trump previously calling for a permanent resettlement of Palestinians out of Gaza.

Trump's stance has drawn condemnation in Britain, too, with Keir Starmer saying Palestinians "must be allowed home" to rebuild. Nigel Farage, on the other hand, backed Trump's plan, calling it "very appealing".

Gaza is currently in the midst of a tentative ceasefire with Israel following 15 months of aerial bombardment that displaced 85% of its citizens and left more than 61,000 dead, according to Gaza authorities.

Read below for full coverage from Yahoo's media partners, or click the headline to skip ahead

> Trump says Palestinians have ‘no alternative’ but to leave Gaza

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> Palestinians ‘must be allowed home’, says Starmer

> Trump's proposal rejected by allies and adversaries alike

> Farage Says Trump Gaza plan sounds 'very appealing'

> Why Trump's proposal on Gaza is ringing alarm bells

> 'Trump wants the outrageous to seem reasonable'

> Welcome to Trumpworld, where the developer-in-chief sees dollar signs in the rubble of Gaza

An activist dressed as the Statue of Liberty, draped in chains, as they rally in support of Palestinians during the
An activist dressed as the Statue of Liberty, draped in chains, during a pro-Palestinian rally near the White House as Netanyahu met with Donald Trump. (Getty Images)

Donald Trump has said Palestinians have “no alternative” but to leave Gaza due to the devastation left by Israel’s war on Hamas, in effect endorsing ethnic cleansing of the territory over the opposition of Palestinians and neighbouring countries.

Speaking as he prepared to host Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on Tuesday, Trump repeated the suggestion that Gaza’s population should be relocated to Jordan and Egypt – something both countries have firmly rejected.

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Palestinians “must be allowed home”, Sir Keir Starmer has said, after Donald Trump suggested the US could take ownership of the Gaza Strip.

The Prime Minister told the Commons that Palestinians “must be allowed to rebuild and we should be with them in that rebuild on the way to a two-state solution”.

His comments come after the US president suggested they could create the “Riviera of the Middle East”.

Egypt, Jordan and other American allies in the Middle East have already rejected the idea of relocating more than 2 million Palestinians from Gaza elsewhere in the region. Following Trump's remarks, Egypt's Foreign Ministry issued a statement stressing the need for rebuilding “without moving the Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip.”

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Saudi Arabia, an important American ally, weighed in quickly on Trump's expanded idea to take over the Gaza Strip in a sharply worded statement, noting that its long call for an independent Palestinian state was a “firm, steadfast and unwavering position.”

Nigel Farage has backed Donald Trump’s plan to “clean out” Gaza and turn it into the “Riviera of the Middle East”.

The Reform UK leader said the president’s controversial proposal “sounds very appealing to me”... He added: “The thought that wealthy, wonderful thriving place with well paid jobs, casinos, nightlife... it all sounds very appealing to me.”

Trump's plans are likely to heighten fears among Palestinians in Gaza, which had a pre-war population of around 2.3 million, of being driven out of the coastal strip, and stoke concern in Arab states that have long worried about the destabilising impact of any such exodus.

Palestinians have long been haunted by what they call the "Nakba", or catastrophe, when 700,000 of them were dispossessed from their homes during the war that surrounded the creation ofIsrael in 1948.

One White House official told me that Trump’s comments were not a spur-of-the-moment suggestion but reflective of a newfound, post-election confidence that he could put together the ultimate deal and change decades of history.

Trump—who also has been publicly and privately musing about winning a Nobel Peace Prize—has been known to first take an outlandish position and then move to a more moderate stance. Sometimes there is a method to his madness, and sometimes there is simply madness in his madness. World leaders, from Denmark to Panama to the Middle East, have spent the past two weeks trying to discern the difference.

Gaza has been “an unlucky place” for a long time, Trump mused, as if discussing a haunted house. “Being in its presence has just not been good and it should not go through a process of building and occupation by the same people that have really stood there and fought for it and lived there and died there and lived a miserable existence there.”

As Netanyahu looked on, perhaps trying to restrain himself from bursting out laughing, Trump spoke of building “various domains” in other countries “with humanitarian hearts” where 1.8 million Palestinians could live instead. “This can be paid for by neighbouring countries of great wealth,” he slipped in.