It's a safe bet that many of what President Donald Trump explained in two press outlets in the White House on Tuesday along with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and that there will be no follow-up social media posts. The US will almost certainly not take “long-term ownership” in the Gaza Strip. It resettled 1.8 million people in “beautiful areas” in neighboring countries, and as a “Middle Eastern Riviera” that doesn't want to return or redevelop the strip because it's attractive.
High-ranking officials, including White House spokesman Karoline Leavitt and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have already returned most of the proposal. And while Trump has been meditating on this for weeks now, his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has been talking about it for months – no one in his administration actually works to implement it It doesn't look like it's doing it. The White House National Security Council declined to comment and referenced Vox in Trump's statement and social media posts on the topic.
The trope from Trump's first term that the president's statement should be “serious” is perhaps the best way to think about his proposal for Gaza's future.
In this region, the statement was not considered merely a fantastical flight. Israeli Defense Minister Katz promptly instructed Israeli forces to draft a plan that “permits voluntary departures” for Gaza residents. Neighboring Egypt, one of the countries that Trump has suggested could provide Gazan with new land, said a peace treaty with Israel would be at stake if the plan was pursued seriously. For the Palestinians, the idea of removing them from their land reminds us of some of the darkest moments in their history.
Calling this idea a “plan” may be generous, but it is clear that Trump's words are important. Not only does they show the approach his administration takes on Israeli and Palestinian issues, but also because of the impact they may have on the ground, because of the impact they have in Gaza and since.
How about a ceasefire?
Israel and Hamas are currently in Phase 1 of the ceasefire. The battle has stopped, and Israeli hostages are regularly exchanged for Palestinian prisoners. In three weeks, they are set to transition to “Phase 2,” the lasting end of the conflict. The future of Gaza Governance and Reconstruction will be covered in Phase 3. The terms of the next two phases have not yet been agreed, so whether a ceasefire will continue is a very open question.
Trump's envoy for Middle East Peace, Steve Witkov, is in the region, seeking a permanent ceasefire, has reached a groundbreaking normalised deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Witkoff, a real estate developer with virtually no diplomatic experience, praised the efforts of years of peace process observers, and Netanyahu's willingness to pressure him to make concessions, bringing a ceasefire before Trump takes office. It appears to have played an important role in securing it.
But it's all covered by Trump's “Riviera” remarks.
“At this point the ceasefire is dead underwater,” said Tahanimstafa, a senior Palestinian analyst at the International Crisis Group. “The careful optimism we had is just an absolute death of it, as this completely undermines the most important phase, which is phase 3.”
The estimate for all involved in the negotiations was that the third phase consisted of reconstruction. For the people of Gazaas Trump said, it's not a luxurious asset for “people of the world.”
Aaron David Miller is a donor to Carnegie for International Peace, a current US administration's Middle East peace negotiator, whose remarks may have meant Witkov had to put pressure on Israelis. He said he had taken leverage. . ”
It's not just Netanyahu.
“Trump's statement created ecstasy among Israelis as well as Israelis,” said Sila Efron, a Tel Aviv-based analyst at this week's Israeli Policy Forum. Polls show that the majority of Israelis support Trump's plan, and even Netanyahu rivals like former defense minister Benny Gantz and opposition leader Ia Rapid are literally taken. It provided qualified praise equivalent to the call for ethnic cleansing.
The strongest praise came from Israel's far-right leader. Some have long advocated for the expulsion of Gaza civilians and replacing them with Israeli settlers. One of them was the incredible national security minister Itamar Ben Gwil, who challenged the ceasefire in January and said he would consider returning if Netanyahu pursued Trump's plans.
“[Trump’s] It's far the greatest position any of Netanyahu's allied partners could have imagined,” Efron said. It is a welcome gift for the Prime Minister who is struggling to hold together a right-wing coalition government divided by ceasefires and other issues. (The praise was not universal. The Israeli military intelligence news reportedly warned that the plan could cause violence and that it could win responsibilities from the Defense Minister. Masu.
It is worth noting that despite Jewish far-right ecstasy, Trump's statement was not in fact a supporter of their vision. In fact, when he specifically asked if he was in favor of the construction of a Jewish settlement in Gaza, he dismissed the idea and replied, “No one can go there, that's too dangerous. No one can. “I don't want to be there.” (Trump's former Israeli ambassador David Friedman told the New York Times that he would eventually decide whether he would live with the “beachfront heading for the 25-mile sunset.” “The process” said.
It is unlikely that Palestinians will be alleviated. “He is now giving Hamas a tremendous propaganda advantage., As a displacement of hundreds of thousands,” Miller said. (Hamas called Trump's proposal “silly and absurd.”
The statement may have other impacts beyond Gaza. Trump's victory had already thrilled Israeli defenders for the annexation of the West Bank. And even before his election, 2024 saw record violence by settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank and some of the biggest seizing of land by the Israeli government. One of Trump's first actions as president was to lift the sanctions the Biden administration imposed on settlers who committed violent acts.
There is little evidence that Trump shares emotional enthusiasm from a settlement project proven by some of his senior officials, and he has been his blessing for the West Bank annexation during his first term I refrained from giving it to you. Still, recent comments suggest that he considers Palestinians to live in their territory.
Unite areas…opposed
Trump's proposal for Israeli Defense Secretary's directions against Gaza and Defense Minister Katz is a reminder of a controversial plan that Netanyahu reportedly considered last fall. The so-called general's plan included a complete seal on northern Gaza, including food aid, relocation of all civilians, and treating those who remained as legal military targets.
Such violent methods would probably be necessary to convey this idea because of everything Trump and Katz could talk about “voluntary” departures. The majority of Gazan would not want to leave their homes forever – or they would not trust that their relocation would be temporary. Hamas still governs much of Gaza, effectively, and there is no incentive to proceed along this scheme.
Other Arab governments who suggested that Trump could take the people of Gaza quickly rejected the plan. Trump appears to think they are convinced by citing the Canada-Mexico agreement to strengthen border security to avoid tariff precedents.
But persuading a country like Jordan to bring a large new refugee population is a very different proposal from telling Justin Trudeau to appoint “Emperor Fentanyl.”
“Whatever the economic threat is, we cannot withstand the existential threat posed by the mass transfer of Palestinians to the country,” Marwan Musher, former Jordanian minister and former Israeli ambassador to Jordan, told VOX. The statement may also have placed Trump and Netanyahu's long-standing goal of normalizing relations with Saudi Arabia even more out of reach. The Saudi government has issued a quick statement rejecting Trump's proposal that it is willing to recognize Israel without the creation of a Palestinian state. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman reveals he is still interested in normalization, but it is unlikely that he will risk signing a plan that is perceived by the region as the new Nakba .
“The Arab world is not always uniform on many issues,” Muasher says. “I think the President's statement unified the Arab position in a way I have never seen before.”
The most generous reading of Trump's statement is that this was an idea. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz suggested that “make sure that the entire region has its own solutions.”
For now, it seems to have the opposite effect. While various actors in the region are delving into their positions, the people of Gaza continue to suffer and Hamas continues to exist.
