US President Donald Trump has said that Palestinians would not have the right of return to Gaza under his proposal to redevelop the enclave, according to a report.
In an interview to Fox News, Trump said he thought he could make a deal with Jordan and Egypt to take the displaced Palestinians, saying “we give them billions and billions of dollars a year.”
Asked if Palestinians would have the right to return, Fox News quoted Trump as saying, “No, they wouldn’t because they’re going to have much better housing.”
“I’m talking about building a permanent place for them because if they have to return now, it’ll be years before you could ever — it’s not habitable. It would be years before it could happen,” he added.
In a surprising announcement last week, Trump proposed the permanent resettlement of the 2.2 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. His remarks to Fox News were the first to say they will have no right of return.
His proposals, which included a US takeover of Gaza, faced widespread criticism from global allies. Both Palestinians and regional power Saudi Arabia firmly rejected the proposal.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who met Trump last week, praised the proposal to resettle Palestinians last week, saying, “They can leave, they can then come back, they can relocate and come back. But you have to rebuild Gaza."
In parts of the interview aired on Sunday, Trump reiterated his plan to purchase and take ownership of Gaza.
In a new excerpt released on Monday, he told Fox News that two to six communities could be established for Palestinians “a bit away from where they are, where all the danger is."
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More Shorts“I would own this. Think of it as a real estate development for the future. It would be a beautiful piece of land. No big money spent,” he told Fox News.
With inputs from agencies