The Daily Populous Thursday February 6th, 2025 night edition
Authored by thetimes.com and submitted by TimesandSundayTimes

Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, is touring Washington as the first foreign leader to visit the White House since Trump’s return to office

France, Spain and Australia have also come out against Trump’s plans , preferring a two-state solution over the relocation of Gazans

Saudi Arabia rejected the plan , while British ministers said Palestinians should be allowed to return home

White House sends mixed messages over Trump’s claim US will take over the Gaza Strip and make it the “Riviera of the Middle East”

Nationwide protests against the Trump administration and Elon Musk’s cost-cutting have been gaining numbers throughout the day.

In Phoenix, Arizona, hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the state capitol chanting “Stop the coup” and “Deport Elon”.

Similar scenes are playing out in dozens of cities including Austin, Texas, Sacramento, California, and Concord, New Hampshire.

In Saint Paul, Minnesota, a crowd of more than 2,000 protesters braved wind chills of minus 15C (5F) to express their anger at Trump’s policies on immigration and Gaza.

The United Arab Emirates said it “categorically” rejected any infringement of Palestinian rights or attempts to displace the population in Gaza.

In a statement, the UAE’s foreign ministry said it remained committed to a two-state solution and stressed the importance of finding a “serious political horizon” to resolve the Israel-Palestine conflict.

The US ally did not mention President Trump or his proposal for an American takeover of the territory specifically.

“The UAE has continuously called on the international community to intensify efforts to address the root causes of this prolonged conflict,” it said.

Defence secretary: US military considering all options

Pete Hegseth, the defence secretary, said that the US military was prepared to look “at all options” in Gaza in comments before a meeting with Binyamin Netanyahu at the Pentagon on Wednesday afternoon.

“On the question of Gaza, the definition of insanity is attempting to do the same thing over and over and over again,” he said, echoing earlier remarks from Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary.

“The president is willing to think outside the box, look for new and unique, dynamic ways to solve problems that have felt like they were intractable,” he added.

Hegseth emphasised the close relationship between the two countries, and said there was a “sense of purpose that permeates the state of Israel living under an existential threat”.

The White House said earlier there had been no decision on whether to put US troops on the ground in Gaza.

Gaza’s real-estate potential ‘off the charts’

Mike Huckabee, President Trump’s nominee to be the US ambassador to Israel, welcomed the president’s proposal to “take over” Gaza, saying that it was time for a fresh approach.

“Old ideas haven’t worked so maybe bold ideas will,” Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, told reporters on Capitol Hill on Wednesday afternoon. Huckabee is yet to be confirmed by the Senate to the new role.

David Friedman, who was the US ambassador to Israel during Trump’s first term, wrote in an extended post on X that the potential to develop Gaza was “off the charts”. He noted that the strip’s 25 miles of Mediterranean coastline could accommodate 132 new properties each valued in the hundreds of millions of US dollars.

“Between construction, management and service jobs, that’s enough economic horsepower to employ hundreds of thousands of people,” Friedman wrote.

President Trump’s plan to convert Gaza into a luxury residential resort has stoked a sense of fear and anger among Arab and Muslim Americans.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations described the proposal as “delusional and dangerous nonsense”, and urged people in the US to contact their representatives to voice their opposition.

The announcement prompted a group that led Trump’s voter outreach to the Muslim community during the election to change its name from Arab Americans for Trump to Arab Americans for Peace.

The group said it was “adamantly opposed to the notion of transferring Palestinians outside of historic Palestine for any reason”.

Layla Elabed, the co-chair of the Uncommitted National Movement, which protested the Biden administration over its role in the Israel-Hamas war, said that the group felt let down by Republicans and Democrats alike.

“Trump’s illegal calls for ethnic cleansing are horrific, but as on so many other issues, Democrats had a chance to persuade voters they were the better alternative and they blew it.”

Watch: White House climbs down on Gaza plan

Trump hasn’t committed to putting US troops in Gaza, says White House

Gaza residents hit back at ‘displacement by force’

Raghad Al-Tawil, a 25-year-old Gazan from the Al-Shati area, west of Gaza city, said: “Forcing people to leave to Arab countries is not a solution, it is displacement by force. We belong to our land and refuse to become refugees again. But we afraid that the Arab countries will accept this plan.”

She added: “Mentioning Gaza that it’s a ‘Middle East Riviera’ while our homes are destroyed and our loved ones killed is absurd. Gaza needs rebuilding and a dignified life, not just a cosmetic project that hides the real suffering.

“Any foreign presence in Gaza will not be for our benefit but for those who want control. We need real freedom, not external forces deciding our future for us.

“These ideas are not real solutions; they are just another attempt to change our reality without our consent.”

Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary general, stressed the importance of avoiding unintended consequences in his first public comments since Trump unveiled his vision for the future of Gaza on Tuesday night.

“In the search for solutions, we must not make the problem worse,” Guterres said during a meeting for a UN committee that monitors Palestinian rights. “It is vital to stay true to the bedrock of international law. It is essential to avoid any form of ethnic cleansing.”

He called on UN member states to continue to work towards a two-state solution that would deliver a Palestinian homeland. Trump said on Tuesday he would withdraw US funding from the UNRWA, a UN agency that provides aid to Palestinian refugees.

Can Trump really ‘take over’ Gaza?

Israel is responsible for the Gaza Strip under international law, as part of a de facto occupation in place since the 1960s REUTERS/HATEM KHALED

The question of who owns Gaza has not been a simple one for decades. Read our Middle East correspondent’s analysis of what is permitted under international law

What do Gazans think? ‘Go find something else to invest in’

The US president claims many Palestinians would rather live elsewhere while he turns their land into a tourist resort. This is how they really feel

Binyamin Netanyahu, right, with JD Vance and Mike Waltz, left, on Wednesday X/@NETANYAHU

Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, met with JD Vance, the vice-president, and Mike Waltz, the national security adviser, on Wednesday.

“The friendship between Israel and the United States has never been stronger,” Netanyahu said in a post on X alongside a photo from the meeting.

Netanyahu arrived in Washington DC on Sunday, and was the first foreign leader to be welcomed to the White House since Trump’s inauguration on January 20.

He had been due to return to Israel on Thursday, but the prime minister’s office said he had extended his visit until Saturday night after receiving additional meeting requests from US officials.

The European Union has insisted that Gaza is an essential part of any future Palestinian state, in response to Trump’s plan to resettle its two million inhabitants and build luxury real estate there.

An EU foreign-policy spokesman said the bloc remained “fully committed” to a two-state solution, which it stressed was the “only path to long-term peace for both Israelis and Palestinians”.

“Gaza is an integral part of a future Palestinian state,” the spokesman added.

Palestinians ‘could have turned Gaza into Dubai’

Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, the deputy mayor of Jerusalem, told Times Radio that the Palestinians had squandered an opportunity to develop Gaza into a desirable place to live.

“We hoped that the Palestinians would take this beautiful strip of land and could have turned it into an incredible economy,” Nahoum, 51, said. “They could have turned it into Dubai. They could have turned it into Singapore. And instead, they turned it into a terrorist enclave.”

She added that Trump was a “practical person” who “knows a thing or two about real estate”.

“And he’s saying, ‘look, this is prime real estate and you could do something beautiful with it’ and actually, people could live in peace and prosperity.”

People gather in protest against Donald Trump at the Texas State Capitol in Austin BRANDON BELL/GETTY IMAGES

Demonstrators have gathered at government buildings across the US to protest President Trump’s whirlwind of policy announcements and executive orders.

In Saint Paul, Minnesota, crowds chanted “This is democracy, deport Musk”, in a reference to Elon Musk, the billionaire Tesla chief executive who is heading up the cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency.

Protesters also descended on municipal buildings in New York City, Portland, Oregon, Tallahassee, Florida, Springfield, Illinois, Washington DC and elsewhere.

The protests were largely organised online under the hashtags #buildtheresistance and #50501, which stands for 50 protests, 50 states.

Flyers circulating at the protests were critical of Project 2025, a blueprint for American government and society written by a right-wing think tank, and included messages such as “reject fascism” and “defend our democracy”.

Secretary of state: this is a generous offer

Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, said that Trump’s plan for Gaza was not intended as a “hostile move”.

Speaking at a press conference in Guatemala, Rubio framed the announcement as a “generous offer” for the US to lead rebuilding efforts.

“What President Trump announced yesterday is the offer, the willingness, of the United States to become responsible for the reconstruction of that area,” Rubio said.

Bernardo Arévalo, the Guatemalan president, announced at the briefing that his country had pledged a 40 per cent increase in deportation flights from the US, and that they would accept deportees from other countries.

Mixed messages on length of resettlement

Trump said on Tuesday night that he wanted to permanently relocate Palestinians from Gaza, while Leavitt remarked during the press briefing that he was committed to their “temporary” resettlement.

Asked about the discrepancy, Leavitt repeated that Gaza was currently unlivable — before scolding the reporter who asked the question.

Leavitt said that Binyamin Netanyahu had been aware of Trump’s plans before Tuesday night’s press conference.

“This is something the president has been socialising and thinking about for a long time,” she said.

Asked whether Palestinians who want to stay in Gaza will be allowed to remain, Leavitt said that President Trump was committed to “temporarily relocating those who are there”.

Leavitt has been displaying images of bombed-out buildings along the Gaza strip during the press briefing, and added: “As I’ve shown you repeatedly, it is a demolition site. There is no running water. There is no electricity.”

She said that Trump was committed to “this very bold new plan”.

Trump’s goal is ‘lasting peace in Middle East’

Leavitt is asked how Trump “squared” his Gaza plan with his “America First” strategy, especially after spending decades criticising foreign entanglements and wars.

She said that the president had not committed to putting US “boots on the ground” in Gaza, or investing taxpayer money into the rebuilding project.

“His goal is lasting peace in the Middle East for all people in the region,” Leavitt said. “We’ve had the same people pushing the same solutions to this problem for decades.”

Asked which leaders supported Trump’s plan, Leavitt said that the president had been “socialling” his ideas for some time.

“He said in his remarks last night, this was not a decision or an announcement that he takes lightly.”

‘Visionary’ Trump thinking outside of box, says White House

Addressing Trump’s plan to “own” Gaza, Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said that Trump was “committed to eliminating Hamas” and securing a lasting peace for the Middle East during a press briefing.

“The historic proposal for the United States to take over Gaza announced by President Trump last night underscores this commitment,” she said.

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. President Trump is an outside-of-the-box thinker and a visionary leader, who solves problems that many others, especially in this city, claim are unsolvable.”

Leavitt added that “the bonds of friendship and affection” between the American and Israeli people are “absolutely unbreakable”.

White House press secretary to hold briefing

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, is due to hold a press briefing at 1pm ET (6pm UK time).

Trump is also due to meet Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, and Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, at the White House later on Tuesday.

Trump’s plan will start conversation, says MP

Dame Emily Thornberry, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, condemned Trump’s planned takeover of Gaza as “completely wrong”, but added that the debate over the Palestinian territory’s future created a potential path forward.

“You’ve got an American president who’s actually talking about what might happen next in Gaza, which you certainly don’t get the Israeli prime minister doing at all,” the Labour MP for Islington South and Finsbury told Times Radio.

“We’ve had nothing from Netanyahu as to what he thinks is going to happen next in Gaza.”

Thornberry stressed that “things can’t go on as they are in Gaza”, where tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed and an estimated 69 per cent of structures have been damaged or destroyed since the war began.

She added: “So I think this is an opportunity and I think that people need to step up and fill this opportunity.”

President Trump insisted that “everybody loves” his radical plan for the United States to “own” Gaza in comments from the Oval Office a few minutes ago.

His remarks are at odds with the widespread condemnation from Palestinians, world leaders and human-rights advocates.

“Everybody loves it,” Trump told reporters at the White House when asked about the reaction.

Trump shut down further questioning, saying that it was “not the right time” as he marked the swearing in of Pam Bondi, the new US attorney-general.

Earlier, Mike Johnson, the House speaker, claimed that the proposal had been “cheered by people all around the world”.

Mustafa Barghouti, the general secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative, told Times Radio’s John Pienaar that Trump’s Gaza redevelopment proposal amounted to a “war crime of ethnic cleansing”.

Barghouti said that even though the Middle East had largely become inured to Trump’s provocative statements, his remarks still sent shockwaves through the region.

“To come out and suggest that they should all be ethnically cleansed to other countries, that is absolutely shocking and it represents a true violation of every international law and an advocacy of a war crime,” said Barghouti, who is also a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council.

He added that Palestinians in Gaza had already “suffered so much” after more than a year of Israeli bombardment following the October 7 attacks.

Barghouti co-founded the Palestinian National Initiative in 2002 as a “democratic alternative” to Hamas and the Palestine Liberation Organisation. It advocates for a peaceful solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Palestinians would ‘never agree’ to displacement

A senior fellow with the US Council on Foreign Relations think tank said that Palestinians would never agree to President Trump’s “morally bankrupt” resettlement proposal.

In an opinion piece for foreignpolicy.com, Stephen A Cook wrote that Trump’s plan was not only unfeasible but also ignored Palestinians’ connection to the territory.

“Trump reasons that after so many months of misery, Palestinians civilians would willingly leave the Gaza Strip to live in beautiful new places of his imagination,” Smith wrote. “But the president and whoever is advising him fail to understand that what Palestinians call the Nakba — the dispossession that made many of the Palestinians Gaza refugees in the first place — casts a long shadow.

“Palestinians will simply not be displaced again; no matter how difficult life may be in the Gaza Strip, it remains for them a toehold in Palestine and a stark reminder of the historic injustice that is the flipside of Israel’s establishment.”

The Nakba, or “catastrophe”, is the term used by Palestinians to describe the mass displacement of people during the creation of Israel in 1948.

US envoy: Trump’s plan will give Gaza hope

Steve Witkoff, the Trump administration’s special envoy to the Middle East, said that the president’s plan to create “something phenomenal” in Gaza was about giving hope to the Palestinian people.

“A better life is not necessarily tied to the physical space that you’re in today,” Witkoff, a billionaire property investor, told Fox News on Tuesday night.

“A better life is about better opportunity, better financial conditions, better aspirations for you and your family. That doesn’t occur because you get to pitch a tent in the Gaza Strip and you’re surrounded by 30,000 munitions that could go off at any moment.”

Witkoff, 67, added that Trump wanted to send a message to leaders in the Middle East that the status quo in Gaza had not worked, “and that he’s going to change it up”.

Witkoff, a longtime friend of the president, was credited with securing the ceasefire and hostage-release deal between Israel and Hamas before Trump assumed office last month.

Trump ‘considered takeover since October 7’

Mike Waltz, the US national security adviser, has defended Trump’s proposal to “take over” Gaza, saying that the president had been considering the idea since 2023.

“He’s not seeing any realistic solutions,” Waltz told CBS News on Wednesday morning.

“We’ve been looking at it for weeks and months. Frankly, he’s been thinking about it since October 7,” Waltz said, in a reference to the Hamas invasion of Israel.

The proposal would compel the Middle East to come up with its own ideas, Waltz added. In a separate interview with Fox News, he said Trump deserved credit for the “bold” idea.

“He’s a builder,” Waltz said, adding: “You can’t clear all this rubble, deal with all the underground damage from all the tunnels Hamas has built, start an actual rebuilding process that others should pay for, by the way, in the region underneath two million people — so they have to go somewhere.”

Arab nations would ‘let Palestinians remain’

Majed al-Ansari, a Qatari Foreign Ministry official, said that Arab nations had plans in place to rebuild Gaza while Palestinians remain living in the territory.

Speaking to Fox News on Wednesday, al-Ansari added that it was too soon to discuss relocating Palestinians while negotiations for a permanent ceasefire continued.

“We know that there is a lot of trauma with the Palestinian side when it comes to displacement,” he said. “However, again, it’s too early to talk about this, because we don’t know how this war will end.”

Qatar played a key role in mediating phase one of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, and al-Ansari said he hoped the second phase of the negotiations would begin “any day now”.

“No one player around the world can do it alone; this has to be an international effort led by countries like the United States in order to have a sustainable peace in the region,” he added.

Gaza takeover is ‘Jared Kushner’s idea’

Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law who served as a senior foreign policy adviser during Trump’s first administration, was reportedly behind a proposal for the US to take over Gaza.

Last year, Kushner, 44, floated the idea of transforming Gaza’s waterfront into a valuable property development during a speech at the Middle East Initiative, a programme of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.

“I think that it’s a little bit of an unfortunate situation there but I think from Israel’s perspective, I would do my best to move the people out and then clean it up,” Kushner said in February last year.

As Kushner’s comments resurfaced on social media on Tuesday night, Tara Palmeri, a political reporter for Puck, said that Kushner had raised the idea with Trump.

“A source familiar tells me that Trump’s idea for the US to take over Gaza was first conceived by Jared Kushner,” Palmeri wrote on X. “The source said that Kushner was involved in crafting Trump’s prepared remarks. The request did not come [from] Bibi [Netanyahu].”

Kushner, who is married to Ivanka Trump, led US efforts to secure a peace deal in the Middle East during Trump’s first term.

King of Jordan: Palestinians won’t be displaced

Jordan’s King Abdullah has rejected any attempts to annex land and displace Palestinians.

He spoke after President Trump said the United States would take over Gaza after Palestinians are resettled elsewhere and develop it economically, an idea that elicited widespread international condemnation.

“His Majesty King Abdullah II stresses the need to put a stop to (Israeli) settlement expansion, expressing rejection of any attempts to annex land and displace the Palestinians,” the Jordanian royal court said in a post on X.

While receiving the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, King Abdullah affirmed full Jordanian support for the Palestinians.

The Jordanian monarch is scheduled to meet Trump on February 11 at the White House. More than two million displaced Palestinians live in Jordan.

Trump’s plan ‘capable of igniting region’

A Hamas spokesman said that Donald Trump’s plan to occupy and develop Gaza risked provoking war in the Middle East.

Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters that the proposal that Trump unveiled after meeting with Binyamin Netanyahu in Washington DC on Tuesday was “ridiculous and absurd”.

“Any ideas of this kind are capable of igniting the region,” Zuhri said. He added that Hamas remained committed to the ceasefire agreement with Israel and “ensuring the success of the negotiation in the second phase”.

The first phase of the ceasefire was announced on January 15 and began four days later. Under stage one of the deal, both sides agreed to a complete ceasefire for 42 days, the return of 33 Israeli hostages, and the release of about 1,900 Palestinian prisoners.

Republicans surprised by ‘Riviera of the Middle East’

Republican senators were taken aback by President Trump’s proposal to use the US military to remove Palestinians from Gaza and transform the territory into the “Riviera of the Middle East”.

Speaking at the US Capitol on Tuesday night after the president unveiled his plan, Josh Hawley, of Missouri, told Politico: “I don’t know that I think it’s the best use of United States resources to spend a bunch of money in Gaza, I think maybe I’d prefer that to be spent in the United States first. But let’s see what happens.”

Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, one of Trump’s most enthusiastic supporters, said the plan “might be problematic” but he would keep an open mind. John Hoeven, of North Dakota, said it appeared to be a negotiating tactic, and that Trump was trying to “force a resolution” on a “very difficult issue”.

Meanwhile, Justin Amash, a former Republican congressman of Palestinian descent, wrote on X that “no American of good conscience should stand for this”.

“If the United States deploys troops to forcibly remove Muslims and Christians — like my cousins — from Gaza, then not only will the US be mired in another reckless occupation but it will also be guilty of the crime of ethnic cleansing,” he wrote.

UK ‘should reject Trump’s real estate transaction attempt’

John Deverell CBE, a former brigadier, director of diplomacy at the Ministry of Defence and senior British officer in the Palestinian territories, said that the UK government should reject Donald Trump’s attempt at a “real estate transaction”, writes Larisa Brown, defence editor.

“The British government needs to get off the fence and do what is morally right and get on the right side of history,” he told The Times. “The prime minister should be saying quite openly, we explicitly reject Trump’s idea which is utterly wrong, illegal and HMG would never support this.”

He also warned Britain’s reputation had been badly damaged overseas because of its failure to properly condemn Israel during the war in Gaza, saying: “We have lost our credibility because of our clear double standards. We call out Putin but we don’t do the same with Netanyahu.” He added Trump’s comments on the uncertain future facing the West Bank were also “deeply worrying”.

After stating on Tuesday that he had left instructions to “obliterate” Iran in the event of his assassination, President Trump played down reports that he was actively working with Israel to carry out an attack on Tehran.

“I want Iran to be a great and successful Country, but one that cannot have a Nuclear Weapon,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Wednesday morning. Reports that the United States, working in conjunction with Israel, is going to blow Iran into smithereens, ARE GREATLY EXAGGERATED.”

Trump continued that he would prefer a “verified nuclear peace agreement” that would allow Iran to “peacefully grow and prosper”. “We should start working on it immediately, and have a big Middle East Celebration when it is signed and completed. God Bless the Middle East!”

On Tuesday, Trump signed a memorandum to restore a US policy of maximum pressure on Iran to prevent the country from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Binyamin Netanyahu gifted a “golden beeper” and a pager to President Trump during their White House meeting on Tuesday, Israeli media reported.

According to the Jerusalem Post, Trump responded with praise for the pager detonation attack that targeted Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon in September. Dozens of people were killed and thousands more were wounded.

Israeli authorities acknowledged that it had carried out an operation to conceal explosives inside the batteries of pagers and beepers brought into Lebanon. Trump reportedly called the mission a “grand operation”.

International law violation to deport people from occupied territory

Volker Türk, the UN high commissioner for human rights, said that the forcible deportation of people from an occupied territory was a violation of international law.

“The right to self-determination is a fundamental principle of international law and must be protected by all states, as the international court of justice recently underlined afresh,” Türk added. “Any forcible transfer in or deportation of people from occupied territory is strictly prohibited.”

On Tuesday, Trump issued an executive order withdrawing the US from the United Nations human rights council and ceased all funding for the UNRWA, which assists Palestinian refugees.

Starmer refuses to criticise Trump over plans

Sir Keir Starmer has refused to criticise President Trump, despite disagreeing with his plan for Gaza.

The prime minister’s spokesman repeatedly stressed Britain’s support for a two-state solution but avoided questions about whether Starmer agreed with Trump. “We will talk to President Trump about all of his proposals, but the UK position is clear,” he said. “We want to work with President Trump and discuss his proposals in detail”.

The spokesman declined to say what it would take for Starmer to criticise Trump or to comments on descriptions of his Gaza plan as ethnic cleansing. He denied Britain was avoiding criticism of Trump for fear of economic reprisal. “We will talk to President Trump about all of his proposals, as you’d expect. But the UK’s position is there must be a scenario where Palestinians are able to return home.”

Downing Street also rejected the idea that Trump’s remarks could jeopardise the ceasefire deal.

The latest government to reject Donald Trump’s plan is Afghanistan’s Taliban administration. It said his plan to resettle millions of Palestinians was a “blatant violation of international law”.

In a statement, Kabul added that Gaza was an “integral part of the Palestinian territory” and no one else had the power to determine the fate of its people.

White House visit ‘surpassed expectations and dreams’

An Israeli political source said that Binyamin Netanyahu’s visit to the White House was “very successful and surpassed all our expectations and dreams”, Reuters news agency reports.

Donald Trump and Binyamin Netanyahu LEAH MILLIS/REUTERS

The relationship between Netanyahu and Donald Trump has never been better and closer, the source said, adding that Trump came up with “ingenious solutions” to problems that have dogged the state of Israel since its inception.

Establish settlements in Gaza, Israeli group urges

The Nachala Movement, which promotes the establishment of new Jewish settlements in the West Bank, said “we must hurry and establish settlements throughout the Gaza Strip”.

“No part of the land of Israel should be left without Jewish settlement. If an area remains desolate, it may be captured by enemies,” it said in a statement on X.

Human rights advocates deplore such ideas as ethnic cleansing.

Raghad Al-Tawil, a 25-year-old Gazan from the al-Shate area, west of Gaza City, said: “Forcing people to leave to Arab countries is not a solution, it is displacement by force. We belong to our land and refuse to become refugees again. But we afraid that the Arab countries will accept this plan.”

Raghad Al-Tawil said that real solutions are needed AMAL HELLES FOR THE TIMES

She added: “Mentioning Gaza, that it’s a ‘Middle East Riviera’, while our homes are destroyed and our loved ones killed is absurd. Gaza needs rebuilding and a dignified life, not just a cosmetic project that hides the real suffering.

“Any foreign presence in Gaza will not be for our benefit but for those who want control. We need real freedom, not external forces deciding our future for us. These ideas are not real solutions; they are just another attempt to change our reality without our consent.”

Egypt calls for plans that include Palestinians

Egypt, which borders Israel and Gaza, has called on the Strip to be rebuilt “without Palestinians leaving”.

Abdel Ati, Egypt’s foreign minister, met the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority in Cairo. The pair rejected Donald Trump’s plans for the US to “take over” Gaza, according to a foreign ministry statement.

It also called on the importance of “early recovery projects and programmes, removing rubble, and providing humanitarian aid at an accelerated pace”.

Rubble in Gaza City ABDEL KAREEM HANA/AP

Ed Davey brands Trump plans ‘alarming’

Sir Ed Davey said “many of us were alarmed” to hear President Trump’s plans for Gaza.

Introducing his question to the prime minister, the Lib Dem leader told the House of Commons: “Last night many of us were alarmed to hear Trump speak about forcibly displacing 1.8 million people from Gaza.

He went on to ask if Sir Keir Starmer “personally believes that Trump recognises the dangers of statements like this to the fragile ceasefire in Gaza and security of both Palestinians and Israelis”.

He also asked whether the prime minister will provide reassurance that the government’s position on a two-state solution and “our concerns on this dangerous statement from the president will be communicated to the White House directly and firmly”.

Starmer: UK must be with Gaza in rebuilding

The people of Gaza “must be allowed home” and the UK “should be with them” in rebuilding on the way to a two-state solution, Sir Keir Starmer has said.

Asked by Sir Ed Davey about his response to President Trump’s remarks, the prime minister said: “The most important issue on the ceasefire is that it’s sustained and we see it through the phases.”

He said there are two images fixed in his mind: “The first image is of Emily Damari [the British-Israeli woman who was held hostage] reunited with her mother. The second image is of thousands of Palestinians walking through the rubble to try to find their homes and their communities in Gaza.

“They must be allowed home. They must be allowed to rebuild and we should be with them in that rebuild on the way to a two state solution.”

Israeli minister hails Trump plan as an ‘opportunity’

Gideon Sa’ar, Israel’s foreign minister, has told the country’s parliament that it is necessary to “consider out-of-the-box ideas”.

“Gaza in its previous form has no future. Another solution must be found — and that’s what President Trump is trying to do,” he told the Knesset.

“As long as migration is carried out of a person’s free will and as long as there is a country that is willing to accept that person, it cannot be said to be immoral or inhumane.”

He added that Gaza was full of “hatred for Israel and the desire to destroy it”.

“I believe that together with the American administration led by President Trump, we have an opportunity to at least try to build a better future for ourselves and the entire Middle East.”

‘How can they talk about tourism when Gaza is in ruins?’

In Gaza, Hussein Abd Aljawad, a 37-year-old father of three worried that Trump was “serious about this plan”.

“Even though some Arab countries have rejected the idea of taking in Gazans, I think that in the future, Trump will pressure them into accepting it. He has the power and influence to push his plans forward.”

He added: “I fear that what happened in 1948 will happen again. They will force us to leave our land, just like they did to our ancestors. Right now, it feels like Gaza is being erased from the map. They want to replace it with something that serves their own interests, ignoring the people who have lived here for generations.

“How can they talk about tourism while Gaza is in ruins and its people are displaced? Before thinking about resorts, they should focus on rebuilding the homes, hospitals and schools they destroyed. Gaza is not an investment opportunity for foreign powers, it is our homeland … Palestinians do not need new guardianship — we need our rights.”

Expulsion of Palestinians ‘would lead to new hatred’

Annalena Baerbock, the German foreign minister, said that the Gaza Strip belongs to Palestinians, and their expulsion would be unacceptable and contrary to international law.

“It would also lead to new suffering and new hatred,” said Baerbock in a statement, adding: “There must be no solution over the heads of the Palestinians.”

‘Go find something else to invest in’

Reacting to President Trump’s statement, Adli Abu Aathra, from Beit Lahia, in northern Gaza, told The Times “no one can force us out against our will”.

“We have endured hunger, thirst and bombings all these years, and now they think they can simply remove us? We say to them: go find something else to invest in. I sent my children to Beit Lahia to clear the rubble and set up a tent there.”

The 56-year-old added: “Trump is a madman, mentally unstable. I lived outside Gaza for many years, but I returned because there is nothing greater than home. They talk about displacing us — just like they did in 1948, again in 2023, and now they want a third migration. But we are steadfast, and we will not leave.

“Gaza is not for sale, and it is not a tourist project for anyone. We are not looking for resorts — we need homes to replace the ones that were destroyed, schools for our children instead of the ones that were levelled.”

How can Gaza be rebuilt after 15 months of war?

With the war in Gaza winding down, international donors are taking stock of the catastrophic damage to the densely populated territory and how it may be rebuilt someday, writes Samer Al-Atrush.

The figures alone are staggering: the war, which has killed more than 46,000 Palestinians according to the Hamas-run health ministry, has left more than 50.8 million tonnes of rubble to clear — more than there is from the war in Ukraine, and 17 times the combined amount generated by other conflicts since 2008. The cost of removing the debris is estimated at $970,945,431 and reconstruction may cost up to $80 billion.

Two thirds of the territory, home to 2.1 million people, has been destroyed or damaged, including much of the infrastructure. Only 16 of Gaza’s 35 hospitals are partially operating, the UN has said.

• Read in full: Rebuilding Gaza from the rubble

In his remarks on Tuesday night, Donald Trump said it would take years for Gaza to be cleared up after the ravages of the most recent war and that it is currently like “living in hell”.

At the end of last year, just before the latest ceasefire was announced the United Nations Environment Programme calculated that more than 50 million tonnes of debris had been accumulated from the destruction of the war and it could take more than 20 years to remove.

“The significant and growing environmental damage in Gaza risks locking its people into a painful, long recovery,” Inger Andersen, UNEP executive director, said at the time.

President Da Silva of Brazil said on Wednesday that President Trump’s proposal to resettle Palestinians elsewhere and take over war-ravaged Gaza was “incomprehensible”.

“Where would Palestinians live? This is something incomprehensible to any human being,” Lula said in an interview with local radio stations. “Palestinians are the ones who need to take care of Gaza.”

Australia remains unchanged on two-state solution

Anthony Albanese, the prime minister of Australia, told reporters in Canberra that his country has long supported a two-state solution in the Middle East.

“Australia’s position is the same as it was this morning, as it was last year, as it was ten years ago,” he said. Albanese, whose country is one of the strongest American allies in the Asia-Pacific region, seemed frustrated to even be asked about the Gaza plan, underscoring that his policies “will be consistent.”

“I’m not going to, as Australia’s prime minister, give a daily commentary on statements by the US president,” he said. “My job is to support Australia’s position.”

We must see Palestinians live in Gaza, says Lammy

David Lammy, the foreign secretary, said Palestinians should have an ensured future in their homeland, after President Trump proposed resettling them and taking over Gaza to develop it.

“We’ve always been clear in our belief that we must see two states. We must see Palestinians live and prosper in their homelands in Gaza and the West Bank,” he told a news conference on Wednesday during a trip to Kyiv.

Analysis: Bluff or not, one man benefits

As President Trump laid out his plan to relocate Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to “countries of interest with humanitarian hearts”, Binyamin Netanyahu sat next to him, smiling wordlessly and nodding along.

Many commentators agreed that the proposal was too audacious to take seriously. But in pledging a US takeover of Gaza, the president handed the Israeli leader a political lifeline.

Netanyahu, in Washington on a week-long diplomatic mission, has faced threats back home from far-right members of his cabinet to quit the coalition underpinning his government if the war ends with Hamas still in control in Gaza.

• Read in full: Proposal to relocate Palestinians hands Netanyahu a lifeline

Plans for Gaza are ‘ethnic cleansing’

Kim Johnson MP criticised the US president’s plans

A Labour backbencher has described President Trump’s plans for Gaza as “ethnic cleansing”.

Sharing a video of Trump speaking about his plans, Kim Johnson, who has been a loud voice in the party in support of Gaza, said: “Let’s call this what it really is: ethnic cleansing. Palestinians deserve equal rights, and our media must speak the truth.”

Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader and now independent MP, also accused the president of “officially endorsing ethnic cleansing”.

In a post on X, he said: “The president of the United States welcomed a leader wanted by the ICC and officially endorsed ethnic cleansing. Now would be a good time for our government to defend international law. If they won’t say it, we will: Palestinians aren’t going anywhere.”

France becomes latest country to reject plans

France is the latest country to reject the comments made by Donald Trump, saying his proposals would violate international law and destabilise the region.

“France reiterates its opposition to any forced displacement of the Palestinian population of Gaza, which would constitute a serious violation of international law, an attack on the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinians, but also a major obstacle to the two-state solution and a major destabilising factor for our close partners Egypt and Jordan as well as for the entire region,” Christophe Lemoine, the foreign ministry spokesman, said in a statement.

Lemoine added that the future of Gaza should be in the context of a future Palestinian state and should not be controlled by a third country.

‘Gaza is the land of Gazan Palestinians’

José Manuel Albares, the Spanish foreign minister, is the latest to reject the proposal by President Trump to resettle Palestinians elsewhere and take over Gaza to create a “Riviera of the Middle East”.

“I want to be very clear on this: Gaza is the land of Gazan Palestinians and they must stay in Gaza,” Albares told reporters. “Gaza is part of the future Palestinian state Spain supports and has to coexist guaranteeing the Israeli state’s prosperity and safety,” he added.

Last year, during the height of the war, Madrid formally recognised a Palestinian state, provoking Israeli anger.

‘Only two-state solution will bring peace’

John Swinney, Scotland’s first minister, has said there must be “no ethnic cleansing” in Gaza.

In a post on X, Swinney said: “After months of collective punishment and the death of over 40,000 in Gaza, any suggestion Palestinians should be removed from their home is unacceptable and dangerous. Only a proper two-state solution will bring lasting peace.”

Swinney’s remarks were echoed by his predecessor, Humza Yousaf, who said: “What Trump calls ‘permanent resettlement’ is what the rest of the world should call ethnic cleansing. Gaza belongs to the people of Gaza. Period.”

Yousaf’s parents-in-law were trapped in Gaza for a number of weeks in 2023 at the beginning of the current conflict.

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Russia joins countries against Trump’s proposal

Moscow has reiterated its call for a two-state solution after events in Washington overnight.

Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said it believes a settlement in the Middle East is only possible on the basis of such a solution.

“This is the thesis that is enshrined in the relevant UN security council resolution, this is the thesis that is shared by the overwhelming majority of countries involved in this problem. We proceed from it, we support it and believe that this is the only possible option,” he told reporters.

Russia joins a growing list of major countries which have opposed the plan to relocate Palestinians and make Gaza “the Riviera of the Middle East”, in the hours following the announcement by Donald Trump.

Peskov added that Trump’s resettlement idea had been rejected by major Arab capitals.

The Liberal Democrats have branded President Trump’s plans for Gaza as “bizarre but also dangerous”.

Calum Miller, the party’s foreign affairs spokesperson, said: “It shows casual disregard for the rights and aspirations of Palestinians and threatens the basis for peace at this fragile moment.”

Miller insisted that the UK “cannot be silent”. “We must make clear that this proposal is damaging, wrong and would amount to a severe breach of international law,” he added. “Now is the moment for the UK to immediately recognise Palestine as a state, to make clear our commitment to a two-state solution based on 1967 borders.”

The party leader, Sir Ed Davey, who has been a vocal critic of Trump since his inauguration, added that “Trump’s ramblings on Gaza risk having the effect of a bull in a china shop”.

Trump claims world leaders support plan

Donald Trump and Binyamin Netanyahu during a news conference on Tuesday ALEX BRANDON/AP

President Trump said his surprise announcement had high-level support among world leaders, but he did not say who.

“This is not a decision made lightly,” he said. “Everybody I’ve spoken to loves the idea of the United States owning that piece of land.”

The president also did not rule out sending US troops to Gaza. “As far as Gaza is concerned, we’ll do what is necessary. If it’s necessary, we’ll do that.”

Ireland’s deputy premier and foreign affairs minister said President Trump’s comments on Gaza were “very concerning” but the focus must remain on maintaining a ceasefire.

Simon Harris said: “The comments last night were, of course, very concerning, but the focus has to be on keeping the ceasefire in place, a fragile ceasefire that has seen aid finally flowing to the people of Gaza, the bombing stopping, and hostages released.”

Palestinians, who were displaced to the south at Israel’s order during the war, make their way back to their homes in the ceasefire RAMADAN ABED/REUTERS

The US should “clarify the comments of the president overnight”, he said, adding that Ireland’s focus will be on the political process to bring about a two-state solution.

Last year Ireland announced its support for South Africa’s legal action against Israel in the International Court of Justice (ICJ), accusing the country of “genocide”. Israel closed its Dublin embassy in response

Palestine Liberation Organisation rejects moving residents

The Palestine Liberation Organisation said on Wednesday that it rejected any plan involving the displacement of Palestinians, after President Trump suggested that Gazans move to Egypt or Jordan and the US “take control” of the territory.

Secretary-general Hussein al-Sheikh said the PLO “affirms its rejection of all calls for the displacement of the Palestinian people from their homeland” and renews its support for a two-state solution.

Bezalel Smotrich, who remains in Binyamin Netanyahu’s government in the finance and defence ministry, cited a verse from Psalms, describing how other nations recognised how God acted for the Israelites and brought them joy.

“Then our mouth was filled with laughter, And our tongue with singing. Then they said among the nations, ‘The LORD has done great things for them’,” he posted on X, adding in English: “Together, we will make the world great again.”

Donald Trump’s proposal is seen as aligned to the vision of the Israeli far-right, who seek to return Israeli civilians to land they evacuated in Gaza during the 2005 disengagement.

Israel’s far-right were among the first to react to Donald Trump’s press conference with Binyamin Netanyahu, where he suggested that the US taking ownership of Gaza would create stability in the Middle East.

Itamar Ben-Gvir, a hardline former member of the Israeli government, hailed Trump’s proposal as “the only solution”. Ben-Gvir resigned from government over the ceasefire deal struck with Hamas last month.

Posting after the White House news conference with the Israeli prime minister, Ben-Gvir said: “The only solution to Gaza is to encourage the migration of Gazans,” adding that this was an idea for which he was mocked during the war.

“I call on the prime minister to announce the adoption of the plan as soon as possible and to begin immediate practical progress,” Ben Gvir said, before writing in English: “Donald, this looks like the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

Turkey, which has been a long-time supporter of the Palestinian cause, has called Donald Trump’s comments “unacceptable”.

Hakan Fidan, the Turkish foreign minister, said that any plans which results in Palestinians leaving Gaza were “out of the equation” and would lead to more conflict.

Speaking to the state-owned Anadolu news agency, he said Turkey would review the steps it had taken against Israel — cutting off trade and recalling its ambassador — if the killing of Palestinians stopped and their conditions changed.

Move the slider left to right to examine how Gaza, top, and Khan Yunis has changed since the war began

• Read in full: The destruction war wreaked on Gaza — in images and maps

Long way to go yet, says Patel

Priti Patel, the shadow foreign secretary, declined to comment on President Trump’s plan for Gaza, instead saying that the “absolute and number one priority” is the release of the hostages.

Asked about Trump’s remarks, Patel told Times Radio: “Well I think first of all we can’t get ahead of ourselves because the absolute and number one priority now is seeing the hostages, all hostages being released because that’s critical to bringing about a sustainable end to this whole conflict in Gaza.”

She acknowledged that the president had played an “important role” in securing the ceasefire, but said the situation is “fragile” and “there is a long way to go yet”. Patel added that “no one country” will be able to rebuild Gaza alone.

China voiced its opposition to the forced transfer of Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip on Wednesday.

A ministry spokesperson said that Beijing hoped all parties would take ceasefire and post-conflict governance as an opportunity to reassess the Palestinian issue and put it back on the right track of a political settlement based on the two-state solution.

China has recognised the State of Palestine since 1988.

Drone footage shows the rubble in northern Gaza as the ceasefire takes effect

‘Palestinians must be able to return home’

Steve Reed, the environment secretary, said he would not give a “running commentary” on Trump’s intervention but praised the US president for his role in the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Reed told Times Radio: “I can tell you what the UK government’s position is, and that is that Palestinian civilians must be able to return to their homes and rebuild their lives.”

He added: “I think we should credit Donald Trump, actually, with the role that he played in securing this ceasefire, which has finally seen an end to the killing, at least for now, and we hope that can become permanent.”

Hamas says Trump’s plan is ‘racist’

Hamas has rejected Donald Trump’s plan to “take control” of the Gaza Strip, calling it “racist”, in its first response to the president’s announcement.

It also accused the US leader of attempting to “eliminate” the cause of the Palestinians.

“The American racist stance aligns with the Israeli extreme right’s position in displacing our people and eliminating our cause,” Abdel Latif al-Qanou, the militant group‘s spokesman, said in a statement.

Trump ‘openly calling for ethnic cleansing’

The only Palestinian-American member of the US Congress has said Trump is “openly calling for ethnic cleansing”.

Democrat Rashida Tlaib denounced the president’s controversial proposal for Palestinians to leave the Gaza Strip, saying: “Palestinians aren’t going anywhere.”

“This president can only spew this fanatical bulls**t because of bipartisan support in Congress for funding genocide and ethnic cleansing. It’s time for my two-state solution colleagues to speak up,” Tlaib wrote on X.

Potential in the Gaza Strip is unbelievable, says Trump

Donald Trump said his plan for Gaza would make it “the Riviera of the Middle East”.

When asked who would live there after the US took control, he said: “I envision world people living there, the world’s people. I think you’ll make that into an international, unbelievable place. I think the potential in the Gaza Strip is unbelievable.”

He added that “many people will live there” and Palestinians could still be among them.

‘The US stands ready to lead’

The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has backed Donald Trump’s comments on the Gaza Strip.

“Gaza MUST BE FREE from Hamas,” Rubio wrote on X. “The United States stands ready to lead and Make Gaza Beautiful Again,” Rubio wrote mirroring Trump’s “Make America Great Again” campaign slogan. Our pursuit is one of lasting peace in the region for all people.”

Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the House, praised Trump’s remarks as taking a “bold action in hopes of achieving lasting peace in Gaza”.

Saudi Arabia has rejected Donald Trump’s plan to displace Palestinians, and said it will not formalise ties with Israel unless a Palestinian state is established.

In a statement from the foreign ministry, Riyadh said its stance towards the Palestinians is not negotiable. Saudi Arabia’s 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, the statement added.

“Saudi Arabia will continue its relentless efforts to establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and will not establish diplomatic relations with Israel without that,” the Saudi foreign ministry said.

Earlier, Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said that establishing formal relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia “is not only feasible, I think it’s going to happen”.

US ‘will take over Gaza Strip’

President Trump has suggested the US “take over” the Gaza Strip permanently relocating Palestinians to new housing in Egypt, Jordan and other Arab nations.

The president said the plan would achieve peace in the Middle East and, through real estate development, turn “a hellhole” into the “Riviera of the Middle East”.

Trump made the comments at the White House on Tuesday night sitting next to Binyamin Netanyahu. The Israeli prime minister was the first foreign leader to visit the American president since his return to office.

“Everybody I’ve spoken to loves the idea of the United States owning that piece of land and developing and creating thousands of jobs with something that will be magnificent, in a really magnificent area. We have an opportunity to do something phenomenal,” added Trump.

• Read in full: Trump will turn Gaza Strip into ‘Riviera of Middle East’

Raghad Al-Tawil, a 25-year-old Gazan from the Al-Shati area, west of Gaza city, said: “Forcing people to leave to Arab countries is not a solution, it is displacement by force. We belong to our land and refuse to become refugees again. But we are afraid that the Arab countries will accept this plan.”

Rev-Dr-Slimeass on February 5th, 2025 at 11:59 UTC »

One time, I found a very complicated gulf war simulator from the 90s. It took me a long time how to figure out how to do anything. Finally, when I did, in response to Saddam's aggression I launched a massive nuclear attack against Canada.

Trump seems to be doing a similar playthrough. God help us when he finds the tutorial video on YouTube.

Mrsbrainfog on February 5th, 2025 at 11:26 UTC »

I think this is so far out that most European politicians don’t know how to address it.

TimesandSundayTimes on February 5th, 2025 at 10:56 UTC »

Saudi Arabia has rejected Donald Trump’s plan to displace Palestinians, and said it will not formalise ties with Israel unless a Palestinian state is established. China, Turkey, Russia, and the UK Liberal Democratic party have also spoken against the plans

The only Palestinian-American member of the US Congress has said Trump is “openly calling for ethnic cleansing”.

Democrat Rashida Tlaib denounced the president’s controversial proposal for Palestinians to leave the Gaza Strip, saying: “Palestinians aren’t going anywhere.”

🔗 To read more about Trump's plans, click the link