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Trump says Palestinians couldn’t return to Gaza under his redevelopment plan

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Donald Trump has said Palestinians would have no right to return to Gaza under his proposal to relocate its population and rebuild the Strip.

The president last week debuted his suggestion to “own” Gaza and shut out Hamas while it’s redeveloped, but has now contradicted officials who had said any relocation would be temporary.

Asked by Fox News if Palestinians could return, he replied: “No, they wouldn’t, because they’re going to have much better housing. In other words, I’m talking about building a permanent place for them.”

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Speaking on Monday at the White House, Mr Trump also suggested the current ceasefire in Gaza should end on Saturday if Hamas does not release hostages as planned.

He then went further, saying all the remaining hostages should be released by midday on Saturday, or the ceasefire should be cancelled – and that “all hell is going to break out” if the hostages are not freed then.

But the US president added: “I’m speaking for myself. Israel can override it.”

Hamas said earlier it would delay the release of hostages – accusing Israel of violating the ceasefire.

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‘I would own this’ – Trump on Gaza

Mr Trump told Fox News his future vision for Gaza was to build multiple “safe communities, a little bit away from where they are, where all of this danger is”, adding the area is currently “not habitable”.

He said he believed he could cut a deal with Jordan or Egypt to take people in.

However, Arab allies – including Egypt and Saudi Arabia – have dismissed the idea of relocating Gaza’s two-million-plus population.

Western countries have also rejected the proposal; an independent state for Palestinians remains the favoured way forward but is a no-go for the Israeli government.

When asked in the media, Palestinians have also rubbished the idea.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has supported Mr Trump’s controversial proposal.

Image:
Donald Trump meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office. Pic: Reuters

Much of Gaza lies in ruins due to Israel‘s attempt to wipe out Hamas after its 2023 terror attack that killed around 1,200 people in Israel.

About 250 were also kidnapped, but those still alive have started to be released in recent weeks after a hard-won truce took effect last month.

Since the ceasefire began on 19 January, five swaps have taken place – with 16 Israeli and five Thai hostages released.

In total, Israel has said it will release up to 1,904 Palestinian prisoners in return for 33 Israeli hostages during the deal’s first phase.

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Prospect of no return most offensive part of radical plan

From Donald Trump, it’s a hardened “No”. Asked directly if Palestinians would have the right to return to a redeveloped Gaza, he told Fox News Channel’s Brett Baier: “No, they wouldn’t, because they’re going to have much better housing.”

If the notion of Trump building on Gaza has offended its people, most offensive is the prospect for them of no return. Since Donald Trump first suggested taking and building on Palestinian land, observers in America, the Middle East and all countries in between have been assessing its seriousness.

Everything he’s said since indicates he’s committed both to the project and to ignoring entrenched objections from allies and adversaries alike.

In spite of flat refusals by Jordan and Egypt to resettle Palestinians in those countries, Trump said: “I think I could make a deal with Jordan. I think I could make a deal with Egypt. You know, we give them billions and billions of dollars a year.”

If peace in the Middle East was a matter of money, it would have been solved long ago. Tuesday’s meeting in Washington between Trump and Jordan’s King Abdullah won’t be easy.

In the White House, the Jordanian leader will talk numbers of his own – the hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees already living in the Hashemite kingdom and the instability threatened by moving more.

Trump is also due to meet the Egyptian president and the Saudi crown prince in the coming days – it is a chorus of Arab voices to caution an expansionist president at a delicate time, as parties involved in the current conflict work through the phases of a ceasefire deal.

Trump’s plan is radical and it invites fresh-eyed debate over a way forward for the region.

However, it is the property deal that separates a people from their home – again. At the heart of a radical plan, it’s the inherent recklessness.

So far, little progress has been made on an extension to the first six-week phase of the ceasefire.

A delegation from Israel has arrived in Qatar for further talks amid concern the deal might collapse before all remaining hostages are freed.

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