If US President Donald Trump’s outlandish proposals for turning the Gaza Strip into the “Riviera of the Middle East” have any merit at all, it is that they have helped to focus world attention on the terrible circumstances in which Palestinians now live following a 15-year American-backed Israeli war on the enclave.
When Israel pushed Palestinians out of their homes when it created its state in 1948, refugees sought "temporary" refuge in neighbouring states, but also in Gaza and the West Bank.
Attempts to address the plight of Palestinians living in these refugee camps were largely stagnated by Israel’s refusal to agree to the “right of return” principle” for dispossessed Palestinians. This decades-long stagnation has bred frustration and resentment within the Palestinian population towards their occupiers, especially in the Gaza Strip, which had been under crippling Israeli siege since 2007 when Hamas came to power there.
Fast forward to 15 months ago, that anger manifested itself into the deadliest attack on Israel when Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups broke through the walls of besieged Gaza, took hundreds of Israelis hostage and killed many more.
Israel quickly launched a brutal assault on Gaza, which lasted 15 months until a ceasefire was reached just before Trump was sworn in as US President. Now, Gaza lies in absolute ruins, and it is unlivable unless reconstruction is allowed to occur. Apart from providing local residents with homes and jobs, rebuilding the area is seen as vital to offset the factors that help fuel extremism.
Indeed, a key element of the three-stage peace plan aimed at implementing a lasting ceasefire in Gaza is to provide adequate funding for a future reconstruction programme, with Israeli officials recently suggesting that a number of Gulf states might be prepared to bear the costs of rebuilding the enclave.
Trump drops a bombshell
But Trump’s bombshell announcement this week that the US intends to “take over” and “own” Gaza after resettling Palestinians elsewhere in the region as part of a redevelopment plan that would turn the Strip into the “Riviera of the Middle East” took post-war plans to an entirely new level.
In a shock announcement made shortly after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump said his administration would spearhead development in the enclave to “supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area”.
Upending decades of US rhetoric that supported a two-state solution, Trump declared: “The US will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it, too. We’ll own it.” He said his administration would take responsibility for clearing destroyed buildings and dismantling “dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons” and said Palestinians should permanently move to other countries where they can "live in peace."
The comments were later walked back by the White House Press Secretary, who said the relocation would be temporary and they could come back to Gaza once the reconstruction was done.
Widespread condemnation
Needless to say, Trump's comments on Gaza have sparked widespread condemnation—not least because it fails to address the fundamental issue of Palestinian statehood.
While there is a general acknowledgement within the international community that, so long as a lasting ceasefire can be maintained in Gaza, rebuilding the enclave should be a major priority, there is also a consensus that resolving the long-standing dispute over implementing a two-state solution to the Israeli/Palestinian issue should be front and centre.
Thus, while Trump continues to insist that “everybody loves” his Gaza plan, it has prompted strong reactions across the globe, including from a number of key allies.
In London, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer summed up the attitude of many of Washington’s allies when he said the Palestinians “must be allowed to rebuild, and we should be with them in that rebuild on the way to a two-state solution.”
In the US, meanwhile, concerns were raised about the prospect of US forces being sent to Gaza, with South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, a close political ally and golfing partner of the US President, calling the proposal “problematic.”
“The idea of Americans going in on the ground in Gaza is a non-starter for every senator,” said Graham. “So I would suggest we go back to what we’ve been trying to do, which is destroy Hamas and find a way for the Arab world to take over Gaza and the West Bank in a fashion that would lead to a Palestinian state that Israel can live with.”
