White House suggests Palestinians won’t be permanently resettled – as ex-Israeli PM casts doubt on Trump plan
The White House has appeared to backtrack on Donald Trump’s assertion that Palestinians should be permanently resettled from Gaza – as a former Israeli PM told Sky News he was “deeply doubtful” about the plan.
On Tuesday, during a visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mr Trump said: “If we can get a beautiful area to resettle people, permanently, in nice homes where they can be happy and not be shot and not be killed and not be knifed to death like what’s happening in Gaza.”
He drew global condemnation for his comments, which included: “The US will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it too. We’ll own it.”
When questioned, Mr Trump said he did envision a “long-term ownership position” and described Gaza’s future as “the Riviera of the Middle East”.
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But speaking on Wednesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt appeared to contradict Mr Trump’s words and claimed he had said it would always be temporary.
“The president has made it clear that they need to be temporarily relocated out of Gaza for the rebuilding of this effort,” she said to reporters.
Palestinians walk among the rubble in Gaza. Pic: AP/Abdel Kareem Hana
She continued: “Again, it’s a demolition site right now. It’s not a liveable place for any human being. And I think it’s actually quite evil to suggest that people should live in such dire conditions.”
Ms Leavitt also added that Mr Trump “has not committed” to sending troops to Gaza – but she did not rule it out.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. Pic: AP
‘A massive row back’
Sky News US correspondent Mark Stone was at the news conference where Ms Leavitt spoke.
He said: “I think what we heard there, reading between the lines, was a massive row back.
“She said that the relocation of Palestinians from Gaza while the territory is rebuilt would be temporary, and she said the president was ‘very clear’ about that.
“Well he wasn’t very clear about that. He was very clear that it would be permanent. Indeed, he repeated this idea that they would be permanently relocated to ‘somewhere beautiful’, he said on many occasions yesterday.
“And so while she didn’t acknowledge that there was a shift in position between yesterday and today, it was implicit in everything that she said.”
‘Deeply doubtful’
Ex-Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak told Sky News he was “deeply doubtful” about the practicality of the plan.
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Ex-Israel PM: Gaza plan ‘deeply doubtful’
He said: “I cannot judge it, there are many in Israel who are really excited about it but it seems to me deeply doubtful whether it can ever fly.
“It’s probably deliberately or subconsciously used as a leverage upon the Arab leaders to shake them up and to start to think about how they can contribute to avoid the need for America to intervene. I think that’s more probable an explanation for the whole story.”
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It was not clear whether Mr Trump was serious with his proposal or simply taking an extreme position as a bargaining strategy, as he has done in the past.
While Mr Trump’s comments have thrust the politics and future of Gaza into the headlines, on the ground, nearly 16 months of Israeli bombardment has devastated the coastal enclave and killed more than 47,000 people, according to its Hamas-run health ministry.
The offensive followed the 7 October Hamas attacks in 2023, in which around 1,200 people were killed in southern Israel and about 250 people were taken hostage.
Vladimir Putin told Donald Trump he “will not back down” from Russia’s goals in Ukraine during a phone call today, the Kremlin has said.
The Russian president spoke to his US counterpart for almost an hour, and Mr Trump “again raised the issue of an early end to military action” in Ukraine, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters.
In response, Mr Putin said “Russia will not back down” from its aims there, which include “the elimination of the well-known root causes that led to the current state of affairs,” Mr Ushakov said.
The phrase “root causes” is shorthand for Moscow’s argument that it was compelled to invade Ukraine in order to prevent the country from joining NATO.
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Ukraine and its European allies say this is a pretext to justify what they call an imperial-style war, but Mr Trump has previously shown sympathy with Russia.
At the same time, Mr Putin told the US president that Russia is ready to continue negotiating, the aide said.
The Russian president said any prospective peace deal must see Ukraine give up its NATO bid and recognise his country’s territorial gains.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, seen with Mr Trump in June, is pushing for Ukraine to join NATO. Pic: Reuters
He also briefed Mr Trump on agreements made last month, which saw Russia and Ukraine exchange prisoners of war and dead soldiers.
Specific dates for the third round of peace talks in Istanbul were not discussed – nor was the US decision to halt some shipments of critical weapons to Ukraine.
Mr Putin and Mr Trump’s call came after the Pentagon confirmed some weapons due to be sent to Ukraine have been held as it reviews military stockpiles.
The paused shipments include air defence missiles and precision-guided artillery, two people familiar with the situation have said.
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The decision led to Ukraine calling in the acting US envoy to Kyiv on Wednesday to underline the importance of military aid from Washington.
Kyiv also cautioned that the move would weaken Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against intensifying Russian airstrikes and battlefield advances.
Mr Putin and Mr Trump’s phone call was the sixth they have publicly disclosed since the US president returned to the White House in January.
Donald Trump’s ‘big beautiful bill’ has been passed by the US congress, sending it to the president to sign into law.
The controversial tax breaks and spending cuts package cleared its final hurdle as the Republican-controlled House of Representatives narrowly approved the bill with a 218-214 vote.
The bill delivers tax breaks Mr Trump promised in his 2024 election campaign, cuts health and food safety programmes, and zeroes out dozens of green energy incentives.
According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), it will lower tax revenues by $4.5trn over 10 years and add $3.4trn to the US’s $36.2trn debt.
But despite concerns over the 869-page bill’s price tag – and its hit to healthcare programmes – Republicans largely lined up in support, with just two rebelling on the vote.
House Speaker Mike Johnson is congratulated following the vote. Pic: Reuters
Every Democrat in Congress voted against the bill, blasting it as a giveaway to the wealthy that will leave millions of Americans uninsured.
House Speaker Mike Johnson made the Republicans’ closing argument for the bill, telling Congress: “For everyday Americans, this means real, positive change that they can feel.”
Earlier, the House’s Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries gave a record-breaking eight-hour and 44-minute speech against it.
“The focus of this bill, the justification for all of the cuts that will hurt everyday Americans, is to provide massive tax breaks for billionaires,” he said.
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The bill’s spending cuts largely target Medicaid, the health programme that covers 71 million Americans on low incomes.
It will tighten enrolment standards, institute a work requirement and clamp down on a funding mechanism used by states to boost federal payments.
The changes could leave nearly 12 million people without health insurance, according to the CBO.
On the other side of the ledger, it will stave off tax increases that were due to hit most Americans at the end of the year, when tax cuts from President Trump’s first term were due to expire.
It also sets up new tax breaks for overtime pay, seniors and tipped income.
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The bill narrowly passed the US Senate on Tuesday after vice president JD Vance cast the deciding vote to break a 50-50 tie.
Mr Trump will sign it into law on Friday at 5pm local time (10pm in the UK), the White House said.
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