‘The Riviera of the Middle East’
![Activists participate in a rally in South Korea against U.S. President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal.]()
Activists participate in a rally against U.S. President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal near the U.S. Embassy in Seoul on Feb. 5.Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images
Foreign leaders vehemently denounced U.S. President Donald Trump’s unprecedented Gaza relocation proposal on Wednesday, warning that it would violate international law and destabilize the region, among other concerns.
After meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Tuesday, Trump suggested that the United States seize control of Gaza, displace its entire population of 2.1 million people to other countries such as Egypt and Jordan, and then rebuild and develop the territory into “the Riviera of the Middle East.”
“We’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded 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,” Trump said at a joint press conference with the Israeli leader.
Asked by a reporter if Trump intends for the displaced Palestinians to return to Gaza once it has been rebuilt, the U.S. president said he envisioned it becoming an “international” place inhabited by “the world’s people,” including Palestinians.
“This is the kind of thinking that will reshape the Middle East and bring peace,” Netanyahu said at the press conference. He did not explicitly endorse Trump’s idea, though, saying only that it was “worth paying attention to” and that they were talking about it. The Israeli leader has repeatedly faced pressure from his far-right backers to expand Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories and reject the cease-fire deal.
However, other foreign leaders swiftly rejected the proposal. It is “a recipe for creating chaos and tension in the region,” senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said. Saudi Arabia on Wednesday reiterated its stance that Riyadh will not establish ties with Israel without the creation of a Palestinian state and reaffirmed “its unequivocal rejection of any infringement on the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people,” including through attempts to displace them from their land. Trump has indicated that negotiating an Israel-Saudi Arabia normalization deal is a top foreign-policy priority for his administration.
Germany, Russia, and China all denounced Trump’s plan as well. Among the strongest objections came from Jordanian King Abdullah II and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, with Abdullah saying he rejects any move to annex the territory and Sisi saying he would back Gaza’s reconstruction but not mass displacement. Abdullah is expected to visit Washington next week, and Sisi is scheduled to come the week after. Trump insists that he can convince both nations to accept Gaza’s residents by leveraging U.S. aid to their countries.
Even among Trump’s Republican allies, he faced some pushback. Sen. Lindsey Graham expressed concern, saying, “I think most South Carolinians are probably not excited about sending Americans to take over Gaza.” He added that the proposal may be “problematic” but that he is open to hearing what Arab leaders say.
Legal experts, rights activists, and some Democratic lawmakers took a harsher line, arguing that Trump’s Gaza proposal would violate international law, reverse longtime Western policy in the Middle East, and rupture the region’s fragile peace. “He’s completely lost it,” Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy said about Trump. “He wants a U.S. invasion of Gaza, which would cost thousands of American lives and set the Middle East on fire for 20 years? It’s sick.”