Former US President Donald Trump has again raised global outcry by reaffirming his suggestion of seizing the Gaza Strip, insisting that the US could turn the war-torn Palestinian enclave into a “freedom zone.”
Trump on Thursday addressed a business roundtable in Qatar in which he labelled Gaza as devastated with not much left to conserve, referring to aerial photos exposing extensive destruction. “There’s essentially no building standing,” Trump said. “Let the United States take it, make it a freedom zone. Let some good things happen.”
This is the second time Trump has mulled the possibility. He proposed Gaza be rebuilt by the US, Palestinians possibly moved out an idea universally rejected by Palestinians, Arab states, and the United Nations as equivalent to ethnic cleansing.
The majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million inhabitants have been displaced during an ongoing Israeli military campaign that has resulted in nearly 53,000 deaths since the Hamas-led attack on Israel in October 2023. Israel began the attack after nearly 1,200 Israelis were killed and 251 were taken hostage in a surprise assault.
Trump has before referred to Gaza being made into the “Riviera of the Middle East,” a prospect strenuously rejected by Palestinians. Trump’s latest comments were met with a response from Hamas official Basem Naim, who stated, “Gaza is not real estate for sale on the open market,” and also called on the former president to leverage his influence to work towards peace.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has received Trump’s offer as a “bold vision,” and explained that both leaders have spoken about some of the possible countries that would take displaced Palestinians.
Direct American involvement in Gaza may be Washington’s most important Middle East intervention since the Iraq War, a prospect many Americans are skeptical of.
