White House backtracks on Gaza plan
GUATEMALA CITY—President Donald Trump’s top diplomat and his main spokesperson on Wednesday walked back the idea that he wants the permanent relocation of Palestinians from Gaza, after American allies and even Republican lawmakers rebuffed his suggestion that the United States take “ownership” of the territory.
Trump on Tuesday had called for “permanently” resettling Palestinians from war-torn Gaza and left open the door to deploying American troops there as part of a massive rebuilding operation.
But secretary of state Marco Rubio and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said he only sought to move the roughly 1.8 million Gazans temporarily to allow for reconstruction.
Even that proposal has drawn criticism from Palestinians, who are worried they may never be allowed back in if they flee, and from the Arab nations that Trump has called on to take them in.
Rubio, on his first foreign trip as secretary of state, described Trump’s proposal as a “very generous” offer to help with debris removal and reconstruction of the enclave following 15 months of fighting between Israel and Hamas.
“In the interim, obviously people are going to have to live somewhere while you’re rebuilding it,” Rubio said in a news conference in Guatemala City.
Leavitt said in a briefing with reporters in Washington that Gaza is “a demolition site” and referenced footage of the devastation.
‘All options for rebuilding’
“The president has made it clear that they need to be temporarily relocated out of Gaza,” she said, calling it currently “an uninhabitable place for human beings” and saying it would be “evil to suggest that people should live in such dire conditions.”
Their comments contradicted Trump, who said Tuesday night, “If we can get a beautiful area to resettle people, permanently, in nice homes where they can be happy and not be shot and not be killed and not be knifed to death like what’s happening in Gaza.”
He added that he envisioned “long-term” US ownership of a redevelopment of the territory, which sits along the Mediterranean Sea.
In a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Pentagon on Wednesday, defense Sec. Pete Hegseth said the military is “prepared to look at all options” for rebuilding Gaza.
“We look forward to working with our allies, our counterparts, both diplomatically and militarily, to look at all options,” Hegseth said.
In an interview later Wednesday with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, Netanyahu reiterated his praise for Trump.
