As bold as brass Trump outlines Gaza takeover strategy
As bold as brass: Trump outlines Gaza takeover strategy
TEHRAN - Since hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the White House earlier this month, President Donald Trump has dug in on his proposal to seize control of the Gaza Strip and move Palestinians from the territory.
During a meeting with King Abdullah of Jordan in the Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump stuck to his guns.
“We’re going to take it. We’re going to hold it,” he told journalists.
Trump also responded with a dismissive attitude to a question on whether he would consider purchasing Gaza as part of his takeover plan.
“We’re not going to buy. There’s nothing to buy. We will have Gaza. No reason to buy. It’s Gaza. It’s a war-torn area,” the former real estate mogul-turned-president said.
Trump first came up with his controversial plan during a joint press conference alongside the visiting Israeli premier on February 4. “The US will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it too.”
The US president also said at the weekend that he is “committed to buying and owning Gaza.”
He has stressed that Palestinians in Gaza should leave the territory, exerting pressure on regional countries, in particular Jordan and Egypt, to embrace a forced removal.
But the Jordanian King rebuffed the proposal as he met with Trump on Tuesday.
Palestinians say the US president’s proposal for Gaza amounts to a “declaration of war aimed at uprooting our people from the Gaza Strip” He said Amman remains opposed to the plan that Trump has laid out to clear the Gaza Strip so the US can seize control of it.
Egypt has also rejected Trump’s proposal for the country to absorb Palestinians living in Gaza.
Two Egyptian security sources have told Reuters that President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi will not travel to the US for talks if the agenda includes Trump’s plan to displace Palestinians from the enclave.
Hamas has hailed the positions adopted by Cairo and Amman.
“We appreciate the positions of our Arab brothers and all countries of the world that expressed their rejection of plans to displace our people or liquidate their national rights,” the resistance movement said in a statement.
It added, “We affirm that our people will remain committed to their land and homeland and will not accept any solutions that detract from their legitimate rights to freedom and independence.”
The Palestinian National and Islamic Forces in Gaza, a coalition formed shortly after the outbreak of the second Intifada (uprising), also denounced Trump’s proposal as “a declaration of war aimed at uprooting our people from the Gaza Strip”.
It noted that “What the enemy failed to achieve through killing and genocide, it will not succeed in achieving through politics and temptations. The displacement plans represent ethnic cleansing and we will resist them with all our might.”
China also reaffirmed its stance against Trump’s idea.
“Gaza belongs to the Palestinians and is an integral part of the Palestinian territory. We oppose the forced displacement of the people of Gaza,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said.
Israel killed nearly 62,000 Palestinians during its genocidal war on the Gaza Strip.
Israel launched war on Gaza in October 2023 but signed a ceasefire deal with Hamas last month after failing to meet its military objectives which mainly included the elimination of Hamas.
The ceasefire went into force on January 19. But Trump, who takes credit for brokering the ceasefire, appears to be attempting to torpedo the truce deal to implement his plan.
Israel failed to ethnically cleanse Gaza from Palestinians after more than 15 months of war. Now, Trump wants to take control of the enclave.
Trump is a bully who is riding roughshod over the concerns of the international community regarding his ambitious plan.
But Palestinians have shown that they will never surrender to bullies and fight fire with fire.
source: tehrantimes.com