'Racist' Trump Gaza plan aims to 'eliminate Palestinian cause': Hamas

AFP , Wednesday 5 Feb 2025

Palestinian group Hamas on Wednesday rejected US President Donald Trump's surprise plan to "take control" of the Gaza Strip and resettle Palestinians in other countries, calling it "racist" and aimed at eliminating the Palestinian cause.

Abdul Latif Al-Qanou
Hamas spokesman Abdul Latif Al-Qanou. Photo courtesy of Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA)

 

Trump made his announcement to audible gasps during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom he was hosting at the White House for talks.

In a proposal that lacked details on how he would move out more than two million Palestinians or control Gaza, Trump said he would make the war-battered enclave "unbelievable" by removing unexploded bombs and rubble, and economically redeveloping it.

"The US will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it, too. We'll own it," Trump said.

He claimed there was support from the "highest leadership" in the Middle East and upped pressure on Egypt and Jordan to take the Gazans, despite both countries flatly rejecting the idea.

Suggesting "long-term ownership" by the United States, Trump said his idea would make it "the Riviera of the Middle East. This could be something that could be so magnificent."

Hamas, which seized sole power of Gaza in 2007, rejected the proposal, branding it a" racist" idea aimed at "eliminating" the Palestinian cause.

"The American racist stance aligns with the Israeli extreme right's position in displacing our people and eliminating our cause," Hamas spokesman Abdul Latif Al-Qanou, said in a statement.

Much of Gaza was levelled in over a 15-month Israeli war, and Trump has repeatedly claimed credit for sealing a ceasefire agreement that took effect last month.

Netanyahu, who has vowed to bring home captives taken by Hamas and to crush its capabilities, said Trump's plan could "change history" and was worth "paying attention to".

Netanyahu was making the first visit by a foreign leader to the White House since Trump's return to power, for what were billed as talks on securing a second phase of the truce.

'Miserable existence' 

 

But it quickly turned into the shock revelation of a proposal that would, if implemented, completely transform the face of the Middle East.

Trump, who also floated travelling to Gaza, appeared to suggest it would not be rebuilt for Palestinians.

"It should not go through a process of rebuilding and occupation by the same people that have... lived there and died there and lived a miserable existence there," he said.

The Palestinian envoy to the United Nations had pushed back strongly at Trump's suggestions earlier Tuesday -- before his proposal the United States take the territory over -- for his people to be resettled.

"Our homeland is our homeland," said Riyad Mansour.

Palestinians in Gaza have also denounced Trump's resettlement idea.

"Trump thinks Gaza is a pile of garbage -- absolutely not," said 34-year-old Hatem Azzam, a resident of the southern city of Rafah.

For Palestinians, any attempts to force them out of Gaza would evoke dark memories of the "Nakba", or catastrophe, the mass displacement of Palestinians during Israel's creation in 1948.

Trump was vague on the details of how he would execute the takeover plan, but hinted that it could require US boots on the ground in one of the most volatile places on earth "if necessary."

Standing at a podium beside Trump, Netanyahu hailed Trump as Israel's "greatest friend" and praised his "willingness to think outside the box."

The two have had tense relations in the past, but Netanyahu has seized on the Republican's return to power after his ties with former president Joe Biden became strained over the death toll in Gaza.

 

'Winning the war'

 

The Israeli premier would not rule out a return to hostilities with Hamas, or with its other foes in the region including Lebanon's Hezbollah and Iran.

"We will end the war by winning the war," Netanyahu said, while vowing to secure the return of all captives held by Hamas.

He did voice confidence that a deal with regional rival Saudi Arabia to normalise relations was "going to happen."

But after Trump aired his proposal, Saudi Arabia said it would not normalise ties with Israel unless a Palestinian state is established.

Trump's Gaza proposal is set to face harsh opposition from Palestinians and Middle Eastern countries.

Egypt, Jordan and ceasefire mediator Qatar have all rejected Trump's suggestion of moving Palestinians from Gaza.

During Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, Hamas took 250 Israeli captives.

Since then, Israel's genocidal air and ground war on the Gaza Strip has killed over 47,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, with more than 111,000 others injured, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

The war has left large parts of several cities in ruins and displaced around 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million people.

* This story was edited by Ahram Online.

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