US President Donald Trump’s plans for the future of Gaza were further shrouded in confusion on Wednesday when he told reporters that “nobody is expelling any Palestinians” from the enclave – an apparent climbdown from his previous proclamations that its population should be relocated.
Trump has repeatedly offered conflicting visions for Gaza’s future. He said in recent weeks that its 2.1 million Palestinians should be moved to Arab states like Egypt and Jordan following Israel’s war with Hamas, controversially proposing that the US take control of the Strip and turn it into a Middle Eastern “Riviera.”
“We’re moving them to a beautiful location where they have new homes, where they can live safely, where they’ll have doctors and medical and all of those things,” he said during a meeting with King Abdullah of Jordan last month. “And I think it’s going to be great.”
But during a Wednesday meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin, Trump responded to a reporter’s question about his plan by saying: “Nobody’s expelling any Palestinians.”
It’s unclear whether Trump’s comments translated to an actual shift in US foreign policy, as the US president has made a series of contradictory comments about his administration’s plans for Gaza.
After receiving forceful pushback from Egyptian and Jordanian leaders about his vision for Gaza without Palestinians, Trump said it was merely a suggestion.
“The way to do it is my plan. I think that’s the plan that really works. But I’m not forcing it. I’m just going to sit back and recommend it,” he told Fox News last month.
Then, after Arab nations endorsed a long-awaited plan for Gaza’s reconstruction in early March, the Trump administration rejected it, with National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes saying the Arab proposal “does not address the reality that Gaza is currently uninhabitable and residents cannot humanely live in a territory covered in debris and unexploded ordnance.”
Trump’s latest statement was cautiously welcomed by Hamas.
Hazem Qasem, a Hamas spokesperson, told CNN on Thursday that Trump’s statement is welcomed if it represents a “reversal of the idea of displacing the people of the Gaza strip.”
Egypt’s foreign ministry and the Palestine Liberation Organization meanwhile said they appreciated Trump’s statements.”
Trump’s previous comments about taking control of Gaza had appalled Palestinians. The president, a former real estate magnate, has described Gaza as a “demolition site” that would be “leveled out” and “fixed up.”
“I think that it’s a big mistake to allow people — the Palestinians, or the people living in Gaza — to go back yet another time, and we don’t want Hamas going back. And think of it as a big real estate site, and the United States is going to own it and we’ll slowly — very slowly, we’re in no rush — develop it. We’re going to bring stability to the Middle East soon,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One last month.
Trump first raised the proposal during a joint press conference alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last month.
Netanyahu has since described Trump’s plan as a “revolutionary, creative vision.”
Israel’s war with Hamas has destroyed homes, businesses and infrastructure in virtually every part of the Strip. It has also killed nearly 50,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
CNN’s Ibrahim Dahman and Kareem El Damanhoury contributed reporting
