TRUMP CALL FOR U.S. TO TAKEOVER GAZA, RESETTLE PALESTINIANS FACES GLOBAL PUSHBACK

Updated February 7, 2025 with statement from the Council on Islamic Relations in San Diego.

By Miriam Raftery

February 6, 2025 (Washington D.C.) – Many world leaders as well as Congressional leaders in both parties are pushing back on President Donald Trump’s call for the U.S. to “takeover” Gaza, relocate Palestinians to neighboring nations and turn Gaza into “the Riviera of the Middle East.” 

Trump initially spoke of a permanent resettlement, with the U.S. taking ownership. But Secretary of State Marco Rubio later walked that back, indicating relocation of Palestinians would only be temporary during debris removal and new construction. “In the interim, obviously people are going to have to live somewhere while you’re rebuilding it,” he stated, AP reports.

Trump insisted,”Everyone loves my Gaza idea,” the Jerusalem Post reported.

But with the exception of some Israeli leaders, reactions around the world have overwhelmingly rejected the concept. Here are their statements:

”He (Trump) has a different idea, and I think it’s worth paying attention to this,”  said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a White House visit

Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, the Palestinian Authority and the Arab League released a joint statement rejecting any plans to move Palestinians out of their territories in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. according to AP.   The leaders caution that Trump’s plan would “threaten the region’s stability, risk expanding the conflict, and undermine prospects for peace and coexistence among its peoples” and undermine long-term efforts to attain a two-state solution.

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres reportedly told Trump to “stay true to the bedrock of international law,” avoiding making the problem worse by removing Palestinians from their homeland, according to Reuters.

Forcibly removing people from their homeland violates the Geneva Convention under international law, the Washington Post reports.

Yousef Munayyer, the head of the Palestine-Israel Program at the Arab Center Washington D.C, had this reaction to the proposal, the New York Times reports: “Outrageous, criminal, harebrained.” He noted that the idea of forcing Palestinians from their homes brings up a troubling history. “The region has suffered for decades from instability and conflict precisely because of the mass ethnic cleansing of Palestinians during the creation of Israel in 1948,” he added.

Sami Abu Zuhri, spokesman for Hamas ,told called the proposal “ridiculous and absurd.” He told Reuters, “Any ideas of this kind are capable of igniting the region.” Hamas’ attack that killed over1,300 Israeli civilians and seized hostages sparked the war in Gaza, prompting Israel’s massive retaliation which has killed an estimated 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Monday that Moscow  maintains the only way to resolve the Middle East conflict is through the creation of a Palestinian state to exist side-by-side with Israel, Reuters reports. "This is the thesis that is enshrined in the relevant U.N. 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," the Russian spokesman said.

Many Palestinians have voiced fear that if relocated, they may not be allowed to return home—and some expressed anger over the proposal.

“Trump can go to hell with his ideas, his money, and with his beliefs. We are going nowhere. We are not some of his assets.” -Samir Abu Basel, father of five in Gaza City displaced by the Israel-Hamas war.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today condemned President Trump for stating the "U.S. Will take over the Gaza Strip" and "own it."  In addition CAIR San Diego reaffirms its commitment to Palestinian self-determination and condemned Trump’s assertion that the U.S. will “take over Gaza.”

Community Organizer Summer Ismail issued a statement urging the American public to recognize the role of U.S. tax dollars and military support in the continued suffering of Palestinians even amid a cease-fire. “The idea that the U.S. should take control of Gaza is a reckless and blatant endorsement of illegal occupation in violation of international law. The Palestinian people have a right to self-determination. Attempts to impose foreign control will only perpetuate oppression and violence," Ismail states, also calling on the state department to comply with international law. "We need a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and the West Bank. Only then can we rebuild and restore Palestinian sovereignty."

San Diego Congresswoman Sara Jacobs, a Democrat, had this to say in a post on X. “No one wants another indefinite U.S. military occupation in the Middle East or anywhere else. This is ethnic cleansing – and this is Palestinian land, not ours. The best path for long-term peace and security is a two-state solution.”

Even some Trump supporters are strongly opposing the idea.

“I thought we voted for America first. We have no business contemplating yet another occupation to doom our treasure and spill our soldiers’ blood,” Republican Senator Rand  Paul posted on X.

Arab Americans for Trump has announced it has changed its name to Arab Americans for Peace following Trump’s call for the U.S. to takeover Gaza. “Obviously we’re completely opposed to the idea of the transfer of Palestinians from anywhere in historic Palestine,” the group’s chairman Bishara Bahbah stated, AP reports.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said he is keeping an “open mind” on the idea, but voiced concerns about the potential for U.S. troops to be sent to Gaza, which he noted “would be a tough place to be stationed as an American,” according to Politico.

There is some precedent for a major U.S. intervention after a conflict, notably the Marshall plan to rebuild Japan after World War II, despite the fact that Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and fought on the Axis side against the Allied forces. But the U.S. is not a direct party in the Israeli-Gaza conflict, though the U.S. has sent arms to Israel.

Rebuilding Gaza is expected take many years, given the vast toll of devastation. But White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Wednesday that Trump was not committing U.S. troops and didn't plan to use taxpayer dollars to rebuild Gaza,  Axios reports.

Without support from Arab nations, the United Nations, or the Palestinian people, and with no U.S. troops to keep the peace nor American funding to clear debris and rebuild, it appears implausible that Trump could achieve a  peaceful relocation of Palestinians, let alone muster the massive international resources needed to make Gaza safe and stable.