Rubio says Gaza currently ‘not habitable,’ declines to say if Palestinians will be able to return if they leave

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says that Gaza currently is “not habitable” due to dangers, such as unexploded weapons, and that people will have to live elsewhere while the area is rebuilt.

Rubio, answering a reporter’s question during a visit to the Dominican Republic, encourages other countries to step forward and offer to help rebuild Gaza, but does not say whether Palestinians would be able to return to the area under a proposal by US President Donald Trump to take over and develop the Gaza Strip.

“I think that’s just a realistic reality, that in order to fix a place like that, people are going to have to live somewhere else in the interim,” Rubio says.

He says Trump’s controversial remarks were aimed in part to encourage other countries that “have both the economic and technological capacity” to help as well with rebuilding.

“President Trump has offered to go in and be a part of that solution. If some other countries are willing to step forward and do it themselves, that would be great, but no one seems to be rushing forward to do that,” he says.

He adds that “countries in the region who express a lot of concern about the Palestinian people” should “find a solution and answer to their problem.”