Trump won't rule out deploying US troops to support rebuilding Gaza, sees 'long-term' US ownership [View all]

Source: Associated Press

Trump won’t rule out deploying US troops to support rebuilding Gaza, sees ‘long-term’ US ownership

By AAMER MADHANI, TIA GOLDENBERG and ZEKE MILLER
Updated 9:31 PM EST, February 4, 2025

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday suggested that displaced Palestinians in Gaza be permanently resettled outside the war-torn territory and proposed the U.S. take “ownership” in redeveloping the area into “the Riviera of the Middle East”

Trump’s brazen proposal appears certain to roil the next stage of talks meant to extend the tenuous ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and secure the release of the remaining hostages held in Gaza.

The provocative comments came as talks are ramping up this week with the promise of surging humanitarian aid and reconstruction supplies to help the people of Gaza recover after more than 15 months of devastating conflict. Now Trump wants to push roughly 1.8 million people to leave the land they have called home and claim it for the U.S., perhaps with American troops.

“The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too,” Trump said at an evening news conference with Netanyahu by his side. The president who made his name as New York real estate developer added: “We’ll make sure that it’s done world class. It’ll be wonderful for the people — Palestinians, Palestinians mostly, we’re talking about.”

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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/trump-netanyahu-washington-ceasefire-1c8deec4dd46177e08e07d669d595ed3