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U.S. President Donald Trump, sitting alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, issued a geopolitical earthquake on Tuesday, doubling down on calls to resettle “1.7 or 1.8 million” Palestinians outside of the Gaza Strip. The plan goes beyond any concept of “total victory” that Netanyahu has verbalized and possibly even considered at any point during the current war with Hamas in Gaza.
Trump—in the way only he could do—has stated what should have been patently obvious to a normal observer but unspeakable for any world leader: Gaza is completely uninhabitable, and its residents will need to be resettled elsewhere. If Trump’s suggestions come to pass, it will not only represent a “total victory” beyond even Netanyahu’s wildest imagination but represent the end of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The president, who worked extremely well with Israel’s prime minister during the 45th administration, has previously succeeded in breaking paradigms in the region with the brokering of the historic Abraham Accords agreements in the fall of 2020. In his remarks in the Oval Office, Trump stated tersely that he will “never win a Nobel Prize” for his groundbreaking role in brokering the unthinkable agreements.
Trump Gaza Plan a Remarkable Idea
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday called U.S. President Donald Trump’s Gaza resettlement proposal a “remarkable idea”. In an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News, the premier clarified that Trump had not suggested deploying U.S. troops to destroy Hamas, or funding the initiative himself. Netanyahu emphasized that the responsibility for eliminating the terrorist group rests with Israel, and said that wealthy neighboring states would finance any relocation efforts.
“The actual idea of allowing for Gazans who want to leave to leave, I mean, what’s wrong with that? They can leave, they can come back. They can relocate and come back. But you have to rebuild Gaza,” the prime minister stated. “This is the first good idea I’ve heard. It’s a remarkable idea and I think that it should be really pursued, examined, pursued and done, because I think it will create a different future for everyone,” he continued.
Watch the press conference HERE.
The proposal drew criticism from Palestinians, including Hamas, as well as Arab nations, including Saudi Arabia, and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt later clarified that any relocation would be temporary, to facilitate rebuilding efforts. On his first foreign trip as top U.S. diplomat, Rubio defended Trump’s plan as a humanitarian initiative, calling it a “very generous” offer to aid in debris removal and reconstruction following 15 months of heavy fighting between Israel and Hamas. “In the interim, obviously, people are going to have to live somewhere while you’re rebuilding it,” Rubio said during a news conference in Guatemala City.
Trump on Tuesday suggested permanently resettling roughly 1.8 million Gazans, as he hosted Netanyahu at the White House. The president caught the Israeli delegation somewhat off guard. “We were all surprised to hear the president’s vision, and I think it’s about time to think about new ideas, out of the box,” Danny Danon, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, told JNS in Washington on Wednesday morning.
Many leaders speak about the Palestinian issue and about Gaza, but no one is actually reaching out with ideas or with substance
“I’m at the United Nations. I hear so many leaders speak about the Palestinian issue and about Gaza, but no one is actually reaching out with ideas or with substance,” he said. “I think it was a really interesting approach of the president’s, and for us, it’s good news. We saw a president who stands with Israel, who understands the challenges and who is willing to take action.”
Asked if Netanyahu was surprised by Trump’s plan, Danon told JNS: “We met Trump’s people. We have conversations. We know they were looking at the Gaza demolition zone, and that something major had to be done, but I think we were not aware about how much the United States will be involved.”
The meeting highlighted the strong alliance between the two leaders, with Netanyahu praising Trump’s unconventional approach: “You cut to the chase; you see things others refuse to see. You say things others refuse to say… And this is the kind of thinking that enabled us to bring the Abraham Accords.” Netanyahu believes that “this is the kind of thinking that will reshape the Middle East and bring peace.”
JNS also asked the Israeli ambassador about the hostage deal, and about whether he thinks it is fair to the Jewish state. “The Hamas leadership should realize that they have no future in Gaza. Period. We are very determined about that, and I think the United States is also very determined about that,” said Danon. The terror leaders could negotiate their way out of the Strip, as the Palestine Liberation Organization did in Lebanon in the early 1980s.
“We know that it is a dangerous deal. We are aware of the risks. We are releasing innocent people who were kidnapped. They are releasing convicted murderers. That’s their profession. That’s their destiny in life,” he said. “We know that many of them will go back to terrorism. It’s a calculated risk. It’s a hard decision. I think it was all debated in the government.”
“We want to start to play offense. We’ve played defense for too long since [the Hamas-led invasion of Israel on] Oct. 7 and all the resolutions and the bias. I think now it will be easier to play offense,” he said. “Still, it will be challenging, you have to admit. The United Nations will still be a hostile place. But with the moral clarity of Israel and the power of the United States, we can start to shift the narrative.”
–JNS.org | Used with permission | This story is a condensed version of three breaking stories by JNS.
