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HE GAZA PLAN
How Trump plan to ‘Make Gaza Great Again’ could work – costing BILLIONS & taking 20 years to create ‘Mid East Riviera’
Trump has touted pouring in US military clear bombs & razing the enclave
PRESIDENT Trump has announced his shocking plan to take over war-ravaged Gaza and turn it into the "Riviera of the Middle East."
The highly controversial scheme to "Make Gaza Great Again" could see the US troops seizing the enclave and 2 million Palestinians forcibly removed to Egypt and Jordan.
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Experts believe the scheme that shocked the world could take years to complete and would cost billions and billions of dollars.
The president described Gaza as a "demolition site" and vowed he would turn it into "something the entire Middle East can be very proud of."
But his unprecedented proposition has sparked condemnation as the plan would see residents forced out of the enclave.
Some have gone as far as to claim Trump's plan to redevelop Gaza would amount to "ethnic cleansing."
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The scheme has also raised questions over how it could be possible - mainly under what authority would the US take control of Gaza.
Despite backlash across the globe, some experts suggested it is a solution that would be welcomed by Palestinians.
It is estimated that such a plan could take more than 20 years and involve the US clearing millions of tons of rubble.
Gaza has been left decimated after an Israeli campaign aimed at wiping out the terrorist group Hamas.
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"It’s a logical plan and to my mind plan it’s better than any plan anyone else has come up with," adding it will take at least a decade to reconstruct Gaza," British Army Colonel Richard Kemp told The Sun.
"I know it shocked a lot of people- Middle Eastern leaders and European leaders - because of its boldness," he said.
Trump vows to 'take over Gaza Strip' & 'level it' before redeveloping as Netanyahu says Don's plan will 'change history'
"But in many ways as a plan it makes a great deal of sense because Gaza has been virtually completely destroyed as a result of Hamas’s war on Israel."
Trump said he envisioned a "Riviera of the Middle East," leveling the war-ravaged towns, removing the bombs, redeveloping the buildings, and providing jobs for Gaza's people.
He said while Palestinians would be able to return, it would be "the world's people" who live in Gaza.
His announcement torpedoed decades of US policy on Gaza - and completely flipped the script on his administration's handling of the ongoing crisis.
Arab states rejected his plans - and questions have been raised of their legality in international courts.
"To turn it into a place people can live again it’s going to take probably at least a decade," Kemp told The Sun.
"It will probably cost many many billions - but there's many billions in the Middle East so they could contribute to the project."
The jaw-dropping plan was unveiled by Trump during a joint press conference with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, the first foreign leader to visit the White House since Don assumed office.
"The US will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it too...we're going to develop it, create thousands and thousands of jobs, and it'll be something that the entire Middle East can be very proud of," Trump said after the meeting.
When asked about US troops entering Gaza, he responded, "As far as Gaza is concerned, we’ll do what is necessary. If it’s necessary, we’ll do that."
Israeli PM Netanyahu praised the Republican, saying he was "thinking outside the box with fresh ideas" and was "showing a willingness to puncture conventional thinking."
Although many of his allies criticise the proposal, Trump previously said that the plan is much loved by many.
He told reporters in the Oval Office: “Everybody loves it.”
On Wednesday, The White House said that Trump has not committed to putting U.S. troops on the ground in the Gaza Strip as part of his proposal for the Palestinian enclave.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Trump believes the United States needs to be involved in the rebuilding of Gaza "to ensure stability in the region."
"That does not mean boots on the ground in Gaza," she said.
Leavitt also said Trump wants to see Palestinians who live in Gaza "temporarily relocated" in order for the enclave to be rebuilt.
Leavitt did not elaborate on the shift in rhetoric.
ISRAEL'S RESPONSE
Former Israeli intelligence official Avi Melamed argued that Palestinians would be more than happy to get rid of Hamas's evil regime.
Melamed said Trump's words sent "an enormous shockwave" across the region.
He said: "It reshuffled the cards. As you expect and understand, there has been robust responses from across the region.
"I would guess that Trump did not out of the blue came up with that statement.
"There has been, there will be, discussion with major Arab players involved, who are relevant."
Former Mossad agent Avner Avraham admitted that Israel was surprised to hear Trump's remarks but "was looking forward to see it" and described as the first step to bring peace in the Middle East.
Avner, described the plan as a "creative" idea and said he believes Palestinians would actually welcome it as it would lead to a "normal Palestinian authority"
He told The Sun: "It was a big surprise for many people in Israel.
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"I know for sure that Trump is not looking for war, he's trying to close all the wars between Ukraine and Russia, between Israel and all the countries surrounding Israel.
"He doesn't want to see Hamas in Gaza anymore.
"Even the Palestinian authority don't want them because they took over Gaza, and they killed many of the Palestinian authority people.
"I feel that most of the people in Gaza became hostages under the Hamas."
Asked how the plan would come to life, he explained the first step would be to relocate Palestinians - possibly to the north of Egypt, towards Sinai.
The following step would see the clearing of rubble and gradual reconstruction of Gaza.
A UN damage assessment released last month showed that clearing over 50 million tonnes of rubble left in Gaza in the aftermath of Israel's bombardment could take 21 years and cost up to $1.2 billion.
He said: "So the idea is, I believe, to send the people in Gaza to different places, and in the meantime to clean Gaza, including the tunnels, and including all the weapons there, and just to build a new Gaza, to build airport, to build the harbor and I think it will be better for everybody.
"I believe that that the normal people in Gaza don't want to live in this condition.
"So it's a creative idea. It's a new idea. And most of the people in Israel really liked this idea."
Avner said he believes the US would set up an army camp in the area adding: "I think they're planning to stay there."
Meanwhile, Melamed told The Sun: "Nobody asked the Palestinians in Gaza what they're saying. They want out.
"They welcome Trump's suggestion, because the only people that has desire to leave the Palestinians in Gaza, in the dire situation are the people that all the time are speaking on their behalf.
"At the end of the day the Palestinians in Gaza are suffering. They are paying the price for their leadership and for their lack of bad choices they made but now, as effect on the ground hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza have nothing to go back to.
"They have no houses, they have no services, they have no infrastructure because of the war that their leadership initiated Hamas in October 7, and they want future."
RELOCATION OF PALESTINIANS
Trump repeated his suggestion from last month that Palestinians could relocate to neighbouring Egypt and Jordan - something that both countries have rejected.
He continued: "I hope we could do something where they wouldn't want to go back. Who would want to go back?
"They've experienced nothing but death and destruction.
"Everybody I've spoken to loves the idea of the United States owning that piece of land, developing and creating thousands of jobs."
The US President added it would be the "Riviera of the Middle East" and spoke about 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".
It is not the first time the idea of US taking over Gaza is discussed - and Trump's provoking plan is said to be stemming from Jared Kushner's remarks about Gaza.
Last year Trump's son in law sparked outrage after he said “Gaza’s waterfront property could be very valuable," while speaking about the Israel- Hamas war.
Kushner, speaking at Harvard University, also said Israel should clear out any remaining Palestinian civilians sheltering there and "finish the job".
"It’s a little bit of an unfortunate situation there, but from Israel’s perspective I would do my best to move the people out and then clean it up," he said.
HAMAS RESPONSE
In response to Trump's remarks about Gaza, Hamas dismissed them as "absurd" and issued a stern warning it could spark more tension in the Middle East.
Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri branded Trump's comments "ridiculous" and "absurd" adding that "any ideas of this kind are capable of igniting the region."
Trump's remarks sparked fury among Arab countries with Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia immediately rejecting the plan.
A statement from Saudi Arabia's Foreign Ministry reads: "Saudi Arabia rejects any attempts to displace the Palestinians from their land.
"Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has affirmed the kingdom's position in 'a clear and explicit manner' that does not allow for any interpretation under any circumstances."
Egypt's Foreign Ministry said: "Abdelatty discussed with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa the importance of moving forward with recovery projects in Gaza without Palestinians leaving the Gaza Strip."
While Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan described Trump's comments as "unacceptable" adding any plans leaving Palestinians "out of the equation" would lead to more conflict.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said Palestinians “must be allowed home” and to rebuild their community “on the way to a two-state solution."
Regarding the immediate global reaction Richard Kemp added: "There is the idea that an expulsion of the people from Gaza would contradict international law.
"This is a unique situation, it’s not really a situation that’s occurred before."
PALESTINIAN RELOCATION
The relocation of Palestinians is a highly sensitive subject among the Arab world.
Palestinians fear a repetition of the 1948 events that saw some 700,000 fleeing their homes during the Arab-Israeli war.
As Palestinians were not allowed to return because it would have ended in a Palestinian majority, they became a nearly permanent refugee community of roughly six million.
The majority of them live in urban refugee camps in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
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Israel's rejection of what Palestinians say is their right of return to their 1948 homes has been a core grievance in the conflict.
Even if Palestinians are not expelled from Gaza en masse, many fear that they will never be able to return to their homes or that the destruction wreaked on the territory will make it impossible to live there.
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