Trump says he wants US to take ownership of Gaza Strip

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday suggested that displaced Palestinians in Gaza be permanently resettled outside the war-torn territory and proposed the US take “ownership” in redeveloping the area into “the Riviera of the Middle East”

Trump’s brazen proposal appears certain to roil the next stage of talks meant to extend the tenuous ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and secure the release of the remaining hostages held in Gaza, reports AP.

The provocative comments came as talks are ramping up this week with the promise of surging humanitarian aid and reconstruction supplies to help the people of Gaza recover after more than 15 months of devastating conflict. Now Trump wants to push roughly 1.8 million people to leave the land they have called home and claim it for the US, perhaps with American troops.

“The US will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too,” Trump said at an evening news conference with Netanyahu by his side. The president who made his name as New York real estate developer added: “We’ll make sure that it’s done world class. It’ll be wonderful for the people — Palestinians, Palestinians mostly, we’re talking about.”

Trump outlined his thinking as he held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, where the two leaders also discussed the fragile ceasefire and hostage deal in the Israeli-Hamas conflict and shared concerns about Iran.

Trump said the US would redevelop the territory after Palestinians are resettled elsewhere and turn the territory into a place where the “world’s people”— including Palestinians — would live. He offered no detail about what authority the US would use to take the land and develop it.

Egypt, Jordan and other US allies in the Mideast have cautioned Trump that relocating Palestinians from Gaza would threaten Mideast stability, risk expanding the conflict and undermine a decades-long push by the US and allies for a two-state solution.