The Israeli government has unveiled plans to remove Palestinians from Gaza and force countries in Europe that have been critical of West Jerusalem’s controversial war against Hamas to take in refugees from the enclave.
US President Donald Trump recently also suggested that Washington could take control of Gaza, level the thousands of damaged buildings in the area and eventually turn the territory into the “Riviera of the Middle East.”
06 February 2025
13:55 GMT
Hamas has vehemently rejected Trump’s proposal for Gaza, insisting the enclave belongs to its people and that they will not leave it.
The armed group’s spokesman, Hazem Qassem, has demanded an emergency Arab summit to confront the displacement project, calling Trump’s statement a declaration of will to occupy Gaza.
“We do not need any state to run the Gaza Strip and we do not accept replacing one occupation with another,” Qassem said. He added that rejecting Trump’s project is “not enough” and that Palestinian unity is necessary to “confront displacement.”
- 13:40 GMT
The UK will oppose efforts to forcibly move Palestinians from Gaza to neighboring countries, Anneliese Dodds, Britain’s minister of state for international development, has said.
“There must be no forced displacement of Palestinians, nor any reduction in the territory of the Gaza Strip,” Dodds told Parliament on Thursday.
- 13:15 GMT
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has praised Trump’s plan for Gaza as “remarkable” in an interview with Fox’s Sean Hannity, which the presenter published on his X account on Thursday.
“The actual idea of allowing Gazans who want to leave to leave. I mean, what’s wrong with that? They can leave, they can then come back, they can relocate and come back. But you have to rebuild Gaza,” Netanyahu said.
- 12:59 GMT
Ireland has hit out against Israel’s proposal to send Gazans to the country. Israel’s defense minister previously suggested Palestinians removed from Gaza could live in Ireland, Norway or Spain, all of which formally recognized the state of Palestine last year.
In an emailed statement to Reuters Dublin stressed that “The objective must be a massive scale-up of aid into Gaza, return of basic services and a clear framework under which those displaced can return,” adding that “any comments to the contrary are unhelpful and a source of distraction.”
- 12:55 GMT
Trump has doubled down on his plans to take over Gaza, writing on his Truth Social account on Thursday that “the Gaza Strip would be turned over to the United States by Israel” after the end of hostilities.
He suggested that the Palestinians would be resettled in “far safer and more beautiful communities, with new and modern homes, in the region” and would “actually have a chance to be happy, safe, and free.”
The president stated that together with development teams from across the world, the US would “slowly and carefully” begin the construction of what would become “one of the greatest and most spectacular developments of its kind on Earth.”
“No soldiers by the US would be needed! Stability for the region would reign,” Trump wrote.
- 12:38 GMT
Beijing has criticized Trump’s proposal to remove Palestinians from Gaza. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun has stressed that China supports the legitimate national rights of the Palestinian people.
”Gaza is the Gaza of Palestinians, an integral part of the Palestinian territory, not a political bargaining chip, let alone the target of a law of the jungle,” Guo told a regular press briefing on Thursday.
- 12:33 GMT
Trump’s plan for Gaza is a half-baked “fantasy,” according to former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. He claimed that the US president’s proposal is likely an effort to pressure Arab leaders to come up with a “practical path for Gaza” and help remove Hamas from power.
- 12:13 GMT
The Palestinian Presidency has condemned Trump’s plan to evict Gazans and take over the region.
As reported by Al Arabiya on X on Thursday, the statement stressed that Palestine “is not an investment project” and that the rights of the Palestinian people are not negotiable.”No concession of an inch of Gaza or the West Bank,” the Presidency was quoted as saying.
- 12:13 GMT
Türkiye has said that it is “completely opposed” to plans to exile, displace and evict Palestinians from Gaza. A spokesperson for the Turkish Defense Ministry said on Thursday that Israel’s “annexation policies” effectively deny the right of Palestinians to return to their homelands.
- 12:07 GMT
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares has rejected Israel Katz’s suggestion that Spain should accept displaced Palestinians from Gaza.
The minister stressed that “Gazans’ land is Gaza” and that “Gaza should be part of the future Palestinian state.”
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