3 hours ago
1
President Donald Trump’s comments astir the U.S. "taking over" Gaza sent daze waves done Washington – but allies suggest the negotiator-in-chief is utilizing the proposition arsenic a maneuver to use unit connected the portion and find workable solutions to the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
"The U.S. volition instrumentality implicit the Gaza Strip, and we volition bash a occupation with it, too," Trump said Tuesday successful remarks that acceptable disconnected a media firestorm. "We'll ain it and beryllium liable for dismantling each of the dangerous, unexplored bombs and different weapons connected the site."
He suggested that Palestinians beryllium cleared retired of Gaza and taken successful by neighboring nations like Egypt and Jordan – an thought Arab leaders person roundly rejected.
Trump's connection would beryllium a momentous departure from existent argumentation – and tally afoul with America First conservatives who privation to spot the U.S. little progressive successful the Middle East, not more.
ARAB AMERICANS FOR TRUMP GROUP CHANGES NAME AFTER PRESIDENT'S GAZA TAKEOVER PROPOSAL
"I thought we voted for America First," Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., wrote backmost to the president’s proposition connected X. "We person nary concern contemplating yet different concern to doom our treasure and spill our soldiers’ blood."
The thought of a U.S. takeover of Gaza originated with Trump himself, who questioned wherefore Palestinians would privation to unrecorded among the rubble, and was not formally mapped retired by his aides earlier helium announced it adjacent to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu astatine the White House.
Sources told the New York Times that Trump had been toying with the proposition for weeks, and his reasoning was reaffirmed erstwhile Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff returned from Gaza and described the dismal conditions there.
Taking implicit ownership of Gaza would suggest U.S. forces connected the crushed to guarantee information – and necessitate Congress to get connected committee with appropriating funds to rebuild the territory.
Trump explained his thought further successful a Truth Social station Thursday morning.
"The Gaza Strip would beryllium turned implicit to the United States by Israel astatine the decision of fighting. The Palestinians, radical similar Chuck Schumer, would person already been resettled successful acold safer and much beauteous communities, with caller and modern homes, successful the region," helium wrote, calling retired the Senate's Jewish Democratic leader.
"They would really person a accidental to beryllium happy, safe, and free. The U.S., moving with large improvement teams from each implicit the World, would dilatory and cautiously statesman the operation of what would go 1 of the top and astir spectacular developments of its benignant connected Earth. No soldiers by the U.S. would beryllium needed! Stability for the portion would reign!!!"
White House property caput Karoline Leavitt besides sought to quiescent fears from the briefing podium.
"I would cull the premise of your question that this forces the United States to beryllium entangled successful conflicts abroad," she told a newsman connected Wednesday. "The president has not committed to putting boots connected the crushed successful Gaza. He has besides said that the United States is not going to wage for the rebuilding of Gaza."
"This is an out-of-the-box idea. That's who President Trump is. That's wherefore the American radical elected him. And his extremity is lasting bid successful the Middle East for each radical successful the region."
Sen. John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat who typically finds small communal origin with Trump, told Puck News his thought is simply a "provocative" mode to "to benignant of shingle things up and to commencement a precise much honorable speech of Gaza."
"Trump is speaking the connection of the Middle East," Simone Ledeen, lawman adjunct caput of defence for the Middle East during Trump's archetypal term, told Fox News Digital.
"Middle East negotiations, they often hap successful public, and nationalist posturing is benignant of portion of the process. This is not President Trump's messaging to the U.S., helium is messaging to the Middle East… [that] the paradigm has failed, and truthful we request caller ideas."
"I deliberation it's going to bring the full portion to travel with their ain solutions," nationalist information advisor Mike Waltz mused astir the comments connected CBS connected Wednesday.
Waltz went on: "He's not seeing immoderate realistic solutions connected however those miles and miles and miles of debris are going to beryllium clear, however those fundamentally unexploded bombs are going to beryllium removed, however these radical are physically going to unrecorded determination for astatine slightest a decade, if not longer, it's going to instrumentality to bash this."
More than 46,000 Palestinians had been killed successful the warfare betwixt Israel and Hamas, according to the Hamas-run Gaza wellness ministry arsenic of past month. Nearly 2 cardinal person been displaced from their homes.
TRUMP SAYS US WILL ‘TAKE OVER’ GAZA STRIP, REBUILD IT TO STABILIZE MIDDLE EAST
An Israeli authoritative suggested that Trump’s thought whitethorn not really beryllium met with absorption by Gaza’s neighbors.
"Egypt and Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates that successful the extremity of the time are threatened by Hamas would not shed a teardrop to spot that the United States is really taking power over the Gaza strip, due to the fact that they don't truly privation to bash that," Avi Melamed, a erstwhile Israeli quality authoritative and Arab affairs advisor for Jerusalem, told Fox News Digital.
"They volition not, of course, explicit formally, due to the fact that it volition beryllium breaking the origin of unity successful the Arab world."
"Trump is being presented close present a conception of a ceasefire woody that is headed for a bid wreck," said Rich Goldberg, president of Foundation for Defense of Democracies, adding that determination is simply a "fundamental disconnect" betwixt what Israelis volition judge and what Hamas volition accept.
"So he’s moving the Overton window, changing the strategical paradigm."
Goldberg said the archetypal precedence was convincing different Muslim nations successful the portion to instrumentality successful Palestinians.
"The Egyptians and the Jordanians should beryllium honorable with the world. We don't privation the Gaza population. We're acrophobic of the Gaza population. We deliberation they whitethorn beryllium radicalized. We deliberation they mightiness bring down our government. Or we don't privation to springiness up the governmental limb against Israel." He suggested Trump could leverage U.S. relationships with Middle Eastern countries – offering those who judge Palestinians major-non-NATO presumption and threatening to revoke specified a presumption for countries who don’t. "The presumption itself is gravitized successful the world."
English (US) ·