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President Trump again reiterated his proposal for the United States to take over Gaza, telling reporters on Air Force One on Sunday that the strip of land was \u201ca big real estate site\u201d that the United States was \u201cgoing to own.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also mentioned building \u201csome beautiful sites for the people, the Palestinians, to live in.\u201d The location of such sites was not clear. Mr. Trump has repeatedly suggested<\/a> that the two million Palestinians from the enclave be relocated.<\/p>\n Mr. Trump\u2019s comments added even more confusion around the proposal, which he first announced last week<\/a> at a news conference at the White House alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. The idea has drawn widespread international condemnation, with some critics likening it to ethnic cleansing. The forced deportation or transfer of a civilian population is a violation of international law and a war crime, according to experts<\/a>.<\/p>\n Top officials in the Trump administration attempted to walk back the president\u2019s comments<\/a> on Wednesday, a day after he first announced the idea. They insisted President Trump had not committed to sending American troops to Gaza and that any relocation of Palestinians would be temporary.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n On Sunday, as Mr. Trump was traveling to attend the Super Bowl in New Orleans<\/a>, he raised the proposal again.<\/p>\n \u201cThink of it as a big real estate site, and the United States is going to own it,\u201d he said of Gaza, according to an audio recording from Air Force One that was shared with reporters.<\/p>\n \u201cThere won\u2019t be anybody there,\u201d Mr. Trump added. \u201cHamas won\u2019t be there,\u201d he said, referring to the militant group that led the assault on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that touched off the war in Gaza. \u201cWe\u2019ll be building through other of the very rich countries in the Middle East; they\u2019ll be building some beautiful sites for the people, the Palestinians, to live in,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Mr. Netanyahu, at a government meeting in Israel on Sunday, praised Mr. Trump\u2019s vision for the region following the war. \u201cThere are opportunities for possibilities that I think we never dreamed of, or at least a few months ago they did not seem possible \u2014 but they are possible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cPresident Trump came with a completely different vision,\u201d for the future of Gaza, Mr. Netanyahu said, \u201cmuch better for the State of Israel, a revolutionary and creative vision, which we are discussing. He is very determined to carry it out.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n When Mr. Trump introduced the proposal at the White House last week, his administration had not done even the most basic planning<\/a> to examine the feasibility of the idea, according to people with knowledge of the discussions. It would involve displacing two million Palestinians from Gaza; Mr. Trump suggested they should be relocated to countries like Egypt and Jordan, both of which swiftly rejected the idea<\/a>.<\/p>\n At that news conference, Mr. Trump said that the United States would take over the Gaza Strip, \u201cand we will do a job with it too.\u201d He said the U.S. would be responsible for disposing of unexploded munitions and rebuilding Gaza, ultimately turning it into what he called, \u201cthe Riviera of the Middle East.\u201d<\/p>\n Hiba Yazbek and Ephrat Livni contributed reporting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n