Will the US take over Gaza and displace Palestinians? What to expect from Trump's plan

US President doesn't seem willing to take no for an answer from Egypt and Jordan

Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza

President Donald Trump wants the US to take an "ownership position" of the Gaza Strip and has again declared that Egypt and Jordan, as well as other countries, must accommodate all of the Palestinians living in the war-ravaged territory so America can develop it into a "Riviera of the Middle East".

The astounding remarks turn decades of US policy on Israel and Palestine on their head and, if implemented, would appear to sound the death knell for any hope for a two-state solution.

Mr Trump's plans might sound far-fetched but he said he is prepared to send US troops into Gaza "if it's necessary" and in his second term he has repeated a desire for the US to gain control of sovereign territory, including Greenland and the Panama Canal.

Here is a look at Mr Trump's historic proposal for the Middle East:

What has Trump said?

At a news conference alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the White House on Tuesday, Mr Trump outlined his extraordinary proposal for the Gaza Strip.

"We'll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site, level the site, and get rid of the destroyed buildings, level it out, create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area," Mr Trump said. "And we will do a good job with it, too."

Donald Trump announces US will take control of Gaza Strip

01:27

He suggested America's "ownership position" over Gaza would be long term. He said he is prepared to send US troops to the Palestinian territory to secure any security vacuum.

"If it's necessary, we'll do that," Mr Trump said. "We're going to take over that piece, and 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."

Since assuming office on January 20, Mr Trump has repeatedly floated the idea that Jordan and Egypt will accept the relocation of the entire population of the Gaza Strip. He went further on Tuesday, saying that Gaza is essentially no longer a viable Palestinian enclave, as far as he was concerned.

“Look, the Gaza thing has not worked. It's never worked. And I feel very differently about Gaza than a lot of people,” Mr Trump said. “I think they should get a good, fresh, beautiful piece of land. We get some people to put up the money to build it and make it nice and make it habitable and enjoyable.”

White House protestors as Donald Trump welcomes Benjamin Netanyahu

01:26

Mr Trump used two of his top advisers – Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz – to emphasise his message that Gaza is uninhabitable.

“There's 30,000 unexploded munitions. There's buildings that could tip over at any moment. There's no utilities there whatsoever, no working water, electric, gas, nothing. God knows what kind of disease might be festering there,” Mr Witkoff, who visited Gaza last week, told reporters. “So when the President talks about cleaning it out, he talks about making it habitable.”

Mr Trump said the population of Gaza needing to be resettled is between about 1.7 and 1.8 million people. Pre-war estimates put the population at about 2.2 million people. The reason for the discrepancy was not clear. Local authorities in Gaza say more than 47,400 people have been killed there since the war started after the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack on Israel killed 1,200.

“I think they'll be resettled in areas where they can live a beautiful life and not be worried about dying every day,” Mr Trump said.

The Great Omari Mosque in Gaza city was damaged during the Israeli-Hamas conflict. EPA

What do Egypt and Jordan say?

Both Amman and Cairo have completely rejected Mr Trump's proposal. And the foreign ministers of the UAE, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and Palestinian presidential adviser Hussein Al Sheikh, wrote a letter to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio this week opposing plans to displace Palestinians from Gaza.

“Reconstruction in Gaza should be through direct engagement with and participation of the people of Gaza. Palestinians will live in their land and help rebuild it,” the letter said. “And they should not be stripped of their agency during reconstruction as they must take ownership of the process with the support of the international community.”

After Mr Trump's comments on Tuesday, Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the UN, said Palestinians must have the right to rebuild their homes in Gaza.

“They want to rebuild the schools, the hospitals, the roads, the infrastructures and the buildings and homes, because this is where they belong,” he said.

The Saudi government, in a statement, stressed its rejection of any attempt to displace Palestinians from their land and said it would not establish relations with Israel without establishment of a Palestinian state.

Nonetheless, Mr Trump insists Jordan and Egypt will accept displaced Palestinians.

“They say they’re not going to accept – I say they will,” Mr Trump said, pointing to Venezuela, which recently agreed to take back deportees from the US after refusing for a year.

Without going into detail, he also suggested other, “really rich” nations, would be willing to supply land, and several areas could be built to permanently house Palestinians “where they can live a beautiful life.”

"I can tell you, I spoke to other leaders of countries in the Middle East, and they love the idea. They say it would really bring stability," Mr Trump said.

He said Gaza would be rebuilt but did not elaborate on who should live there or who would control it. When asked if Palestinians could ever return to Gaza, he said: “Why would they want to return? That place has been hell.”

Demonstrators gather on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip on January 31 to protest against Mr Trump's displacement proposal. AFP

Is forced displacement a war crime?

Article 49 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, which dictate how people should be treated during conflict, states that “Individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory to the territory of the occupying power or to that of any other country, occupied or not, are prohibited, regardless of their motive.”

But Mr Trump may be betting he can persuade the world that displacing Gazans is in their own humanitarian interest given their ancestral homeland is in ruins.

He might also be looking at the significant aid the US gives Amman and Cairo as a bargaining chip to accept displaced Palestinians. Hard-line right-wing members of Mr Netanyahu’s government have embraced the call to move displaced Palestinians out of Gaza.

“To me, it is unfair to explain to Palestinians that they might be back in five years,” Mr Witkoff, the Middle East envoy, told reporters. “That’s just preposterous.”