Trump says he doesn’t necessarily support Israelis settling Gaza, Palestinians ‘would be thrilled’ to leave the Strip
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief

WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump says Palestinians have no alternative but to leave Gaza, reiterating once again that he would like to see neighboring countries Jordan and Egypt take the displaced Palestinians.
He also contends Gazans would “love to leave” the Strip, speaking with reporters at the White House.
“If they had an option of moving — either in a large group or various smaller groups — to take care of the close to 2 million people, I would think that they would be thrilled to do,” he says.
Trump also says he doesn’t necessarily support Israelis settling Gaza, as far-right coalition parties have sought. “Not necessarily,” he says, when asked. “I just support cleaning it up and doing something with it.”
“The Gaza thing has not worked. It has never worked,” Trump says. “I feel very differently about Gaza than a lot of people. I think they should get a good, fresh, beautiful piece of land, and we get some people to put up the money to build it and make it nice and make it habitable and enjoyable.”
“If we could find the right piece of land, or numerous pieces of land, and build them some really nice places with plenty of money in the area… I think that would be a lot better than going back to Gaza,” he adds.
“I don’t know how [Palestinians] could want to stay [in Gaza]… It’s a pure demolition site,” Trump says.
“They’re [in Gaza right now] because they have no alternative. What do they have? It is a big pile of rubble right now. Have you seen the pictures of it? Have you been there? Who can live like that? [It’s] very dangerous. There’s shooting all over the place. There’s bombing all over the place — on both sides.”