Trump says he’s in ‘no rush’ to implement plan to take over, redevelop Gaza
US president tells reporters: ‘Basically, the United States would view it as a real estate transaction. We’re not talking about boots on the ground or anything’
US President Donald Trump said Friday that he was not in a hurry to implement his plan to take over and redevelop Gaza while relocating Palestinians to other countries.
“We’re in no rush on it,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
After repeatedly floating the idea that Egypt and Jordan take in some Gazan refugees while the Strip was being rebuilt — a notion rejected by Cairo and Amman — Trump earlier this week suggested that “the US will take over the Gaza Strip,” while the enclave’s residents should be resettled in other countries.
Though the international community, including allies of Washington and Jerusalem, has largely criticized Trump’s plan, the US president said, “It’s been very well received. Basically, the United States would view it as a real estate transaction where we will be an investor in that part of the world.”
He went on: “We wouldn’t need anybody there. It would be supplied and given to us by Israel. They’ll watch it in terms of security. We’re not talking about boots on the ground or anything, but I think the fact that we’re there, that we have an investment there, I think would go a long way to creating peace.
“We just want to see stability… and we wouldn’t need soldiers at all, that will be taken care of by others, and the investments are taken care of by others,” he argued.
???? BREAKING | President Donald Trump rules out deploying troops to the Gaza Strip:
"Basically the United States would view it as a real estate transaction where we'll be an investor in that part of the world and no rush to do anything."pic.twitter.com/4IHDOjTII0
— VOZ (@Voz_US) February 7, 2025
“So for no investment, I mean virtually no investment whatsoever, it would bring stability to the area and others can invest in it later on,” Trump said.
“But we’re in no rush on it. It’s absolutely no rush.”
On Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was “worth listening carefully” to Trump’s proposal.
In a video filmed at his hotel in Washington, the premier said Trump “raised his idea about Gaza, about the day after Hamas, and I think it is worth listening carefully to this idea, which is the first original idea that has been raised in years.”
Netanyahu’s remarks came as Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Gaza was currently “not habitable” due to dangers, such as unexploded weapons, and that people will have to live elsewhere while the area is rebuilt.
“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 said.
He said Trump’s controversial remarks were aimed in part at encouraging other countries that “have both the economic and technological capacity” to also help 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 said.
Rubio added that “countries in the region who express a lot of concern about the Palestinian people” should “find a solution and answer to their problem.”
Defense Minister Israel Katz held an assessment Thursday with defense officials regarding plans to allow Palestinians to “voluntarily” leave Gaza, as per Trump’s recent statements.
“I instructed the IDF to prepare a plan that would allow any resident in Gaza that would be interested, to leave for anywhere in the world that would agree to absorb them,” he said in a video statement.
“The plan will include options to leave through the land crossings and special arrangements for exit through the sea and the air,” Katz added.
Egypt said on Friday it had been in contact with Arab partners, including Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, to firm up the region’s rejection of any displacement of Palestinians.
Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty had been in communication with counterparts from 11 nations, a statement said.
Those had emphasized “the constants of the Arab position on the Palestinian cause, rejecting any measures aimed at displacing the Palestinian people from their land, or encouraging their transfer to other countries outside the Palestinian territories,” it said.
Moving Palestinians would represent a “flagrant violation of international law, an infringement on Palestinian rights, a threat to security and stability in the region and an undermining of opportunities for peace and coexistence among its peoples,” Egypt’s statement said.
Rather, Egypt was looking with other Arab nations at how to rebuild and clean up Gaza.
Egyptian security sources told Reuters that the nation’s presidency, military and intelligence were united in rejecting Trump’s plan despite disagreements on how to respond.
