Trump faces criticism after suggesting US ‘take over’ Gaza in the long run | EUROtoday

Donald Trump has been accused of suggesting an “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinian individuals as American allies around the globe started to react to the US president’s shock feedback concerning the attainable “takeover” of the Palestinian enclave amid the Israel-Hamas battle.

Mr Trump’s feedback got here in a gathering with Israeli president Benjamin Netanyahu – the primary in-person go to by a overseas chief since his return to workplace. Mr Trump mentioned he needs the United States to “take over” and redevelop the Gaza Strip which is now a “demolition site” that no-one would need to stay in.

“We’re going to take over that piece, we’re going to develop it, create thousands and thousands of jobs and it’ll be something the entire Middle East can be very proud of,” he said.

He added that he was confident that his allies Egypt, Jordan, and other nations would “open their hearts and can give us the type of land that we have to get this executed “.

Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese doubled down on Canberra’s continued support two-state solution that recognises Palestinian rights, stopping short of directly mentioning the American leader’s comments.

In a press conference on Wednesday, Mr Albanese said he doesn’t do “running commentary” when asked about the US president’s comments but said they stand firm on their policy.

“[What] I might say is that Australia’s place is identical because it was this morning, because it was final yr, and it was 10 years in the past, and it was underneath the Howard authorities,” Mr Albanese mentioned.

He added that the federal government helps a two-state resolution in Gaza which envisages Israeli and Palestinian states alongside one another.

“What we have said, though, clearly, we’ve supported a ceasefire. We’ve supported hostages being released. And we’ve supported aid getting into Gaza,” he said.

Saudi Arabia was more scathing in its condemnation of any attempts to displace Palestinians, noting their long call for an independent Palestinian state was a “agency, steadfast and unwavering place”.

“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia also reaffirms its unequivocal rejection to any infringement on the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people whether through Israeli settlement policies, land annexation, or attempts to displace Palestinian people from their land,” the foreign minister said.

“The responsibility of the worldwide neighborhood at the moment is to work to alleviate the extreme human struggling endured by the Palestinian individuals, who will stay dedicated to their land and won’t budge from it,” it added.

It said Riyadh will not normalise diplomatic relations with Israel without the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital.

A senior Hamas official condemned Mr Trump’s remarks as “ridiculous and absurd” that can “ignite” the region again.

The call for Gazans to leave is “expulsion from their land”, Sami Abu Zuhri said, adding, “We think about them (the plans) a recipe for producing chaos and stress within the area as a result of the individuals of Gaza won’t permit such plans to cross.”

Mr Trump, who has been laying the groundwork for his proposal since last week, saw his suggestions already being rejected by Palestinian leaders and leaders of the Arab world while being condemned by human rights advocates as amounting to a proposal of ethnic cleansing.

Reactions from the Democratic politicians in the US were swift and sharply worded, suggesting it could be Mr Trump’s effort to deflect attention away from the US Treasury payments system.

Palestinian American congresswoman Rashida Tlaib accused Mr Trump of “ethnic cleansing” with his suggestion of taking over Gaza.

Democratic congresswoman Rashida said: “This president is brazenly calling for ethnic cleaning whereas sitting subsequent to a genocidal battle legal.”

“He’s perfectly fine cutting off working Americans from federal funds while the funding to the Israeli government continues flowing.”

She had been vital of former US president Joe Biden’s dealing with of the Israel-Hamas battle as he poured tens of millions of {dollars} and weapons to help Mr Netanyahu’s battle in Gaza.

Democratic senator Chris Murphy lashed out on the president, calling his suggestion a “bad, sick joke”.

“He’s totally lost it. A US invasion of Gaza would lead to the slaughter of thousands of US troops and decades of war in the Middle East. It’s like a bad, sick joke,” he mentioned on X.

He mentioned it’s to attract consideration away from “the real story”.

“I have news for you – we aren’t taking over Gaza,” he said.

“But the media and the chattering class will concentrate on it for a couple of days and Trump can have succeeded in distracting everybody from the true story – the billionaires seizing authorities to steal from common individuals.”

Democratic representative Jake Auchincloss called the proposal “reckless and unreasonable” in an interview with NewsNation and warned that it could jeopardise the second phase of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

“We have to look at Trump’s motives,” he said. “As always, when Trump proposes a policy item, there is a nepotistic, self-serving connection,” he said.

Referring to Mr Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, he added, “They want to turn this into resorts”.

Democratic senator Tina Smith told CNN that it is “completely possible that he’s trying to distract us all from the ransacking of the Treasury Department’s federal payment system that is going on right now under the thumb of Elon Musk”.

“This type of lawlessness, we can’t stand for it.”

On Tuesday, hundreds of people protested outside the Department of Treasury in Washington over what many have called a “constitutional crisis” as Elon Musk has gained access to the nation’s federal financial systems

Critics have condemned his sweeping incursion into government operations, which this week led to the shutdown of the US Agency for International Development, merging its aid mission into the State Department.

His secretary of state Marco Rubio backed Mr Trump on his Gaza plans, saying the Palestinian enclave must be free from Islamist group Hamas.

“Gaza MUST BE FREE from Hamas. As @POTUS shared at the moment, the United States stands prepared to guide and Make Gaza Beautiful Again,” Mr Rubio said on X. “Our pursuit is certainly one of lasting peace within the area for all individuals.”

While Mr Trump had floated solutions of Palestinian displacement since 25 January, statements issued since by Mr Rubio’s State Department on its web sites after the highest US diplomat’s subsequent calls with regional leaders didn’t explicitly point out Mr Trump’s suggestion.

Mr Trump’s extraordinary feedback are anticipated to trigger unease amongst Arab leaders as it’s a exceptional assertion from a sitting American president, the one who rose to energy by promising an finish to the continuing disaster on this planet and return of US investments for its personal individuals.

It comes because the 15 months of battle have precipitated a colossal humanitarian affect on the Gaza Strip the place the displaced Palestinians have begun returning to their broken houses.

More than 47,000 Palestinians have been killed because the Israeli ministry mentioned it’s eliminating Hamas militants and levelled a lot of the infrastructure throughout the enclave.

The Israeli army launched an offensive following the 7 October Hamas assault which killed greater than 1000 Israelis and overseas nationals.

A UN injury evaluation launched in January confirmed that clearing over 50 million tonnes of rubble left in Gaza within the aftermath of Israel’s bombardment may take 21 years and price as much as $1.2bn.