Israel 'knew about the idea, was surprised by the scale'

Trump kept Gaza takeover idea secret, only discussed it with inner circle – report

US president only recently developed his proposal to ‘own’ Gaza and resettle its residents elsewhere, administration officials say, and kept even White House staff in the dark

US President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the East Room of the White House, Tuesday, February 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
US President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the East Room of the White House, Tuesday, February 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

US President Donald Trump only came up in recent days with his idea — announced in a bombshell press conference alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday — of a US takeover of the Gaza Strip, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing administration officials. He ran the proposal by close allies and aides, while keeping it a secret even from administration officials who were tasked with preparing for his meeting with the premier, the report said.

Trump said Tuesday that “the US will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too,” adding that the enclave’s almost 2 million residents should be resettled elsewhere rather than remain in the war-ravaged enclave, which he called a “hellhole” and a “demolition site.”

Israel spent 15 months fighting Hamas in Gaza — beginning on October 7, 2023, when 3,000 Hamas-led terrorists invaded the Jewish state, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages — before entering into a fragile hostage-ceasefire deal with the terror group last month.

According to the report, published Wednesday morning Israel time, officials outside of Trump’s innermost circle were not told about the president’s plan, which took even some of his most fervent supporters in the pro-Israel community by surprise. The report quoted one longtime pro-Israel fundraiser for Trump who called the idea “insane.”

The Gaza proposal is one of a number of presidential initiatives to expand American territory, the report noted, which some have dismissed but about which Trump is “deadly serious,” according to one of his advisers. The report cited Trump’s push to regain control of the Panama Canal, his fixation on acquiring Greenland, and his suggestions that Canada be made the US’s fifty-first state.

Already in the summer of 2024, Trump told Netanyahu in a phone call that Gaza would be a prime location for real estate development, and asked the premier what sort of hotels he thought could be built there, the Journal reported, citing someone with direct knowledge of the conversation. Trump did not, however, mention the US potentially taking over the enclave, in that conversation.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) and US President Donald Trump (R) participate in a news conference in the East Room of the White House, February 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

A senior Netanyahu aide told The Times of Israel on Wednesday that Israel did not know the full extent of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal ahead of time.

“We knew about the idea, but we were surprised by the scale,” the official said.

The Wall Street Journal report also connected Trump’s Gaza proposal to his history of presenting foreign conflicts in terms of potential real estate deals.

When the president, a former real estate developer, spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in fall 2024, he noted that the city of Odesa would be a good spot for new building projects, according to someone present at the discussion.

Trump reportedly made similar comments during his first administration to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, hoping the prospect of hotels and other developments along the Korean coast could entice the despot to shut down his nuclear program.

Trump’s son-in-law and former Middle East adviser Jared Kushner said in February 2024 that Gaza’s waterfront property “could be very valuable.”

The comments were widely panned, with viewers suggesting Kushner wanted to expel the Palestinians and privately develop the land. Kushner has said that, when listened to in full, the recording demonstrates he was only making a point about the misuse of resources by Hamas to build tunnels and attack infrastructure rather than foster a peaceful economy.

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