Trump proposes US takeover of Gaza to turn it into 'Riviera of the Middle East'

The United States should take control of Gaza and permanently displace the entire Palestinian population of the enclave, President Donald Trump said on Tuesday.

Trump declared this while hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House.

Trump said the two million Palestinians in Gaza should be moved to neighbouring countries like Egypt and Jordan while the US moves in to rebuild Gaza into “the Riviera of the Middle East”.

“The US will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too,” he said at a news conference Tuesday.

Currently, the United States is trying to secure the second phase of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire in Gaza, which would free the remaining hostages in Gaza and end the fighting.

According to the New York Times, negotiators  said this has been exceptionally difficult even before Trump announced this idea of displacing Palestinians from their homes.

Hamas immediately rejected this idea on Tuesday, as did Egypt and Jordan. Sami Abu Zuhri, a senior Hamas official, said relocating Palestinians would create chaos and tension in the region.