Aboard Air Force One
Reuters
US President Donald Trump said on Sunday he is committed to buying and owning Gaza, but could allow sections of the war-ravaged land to be rebuilt by other states in the Middle East.
“I’m committed to buying and owning Gaza. As far as us rebuilding it, we may give it to other states in the Middle East to build sections of it, other people may do it, through our auspices. But we’re committed to owning it, taking it, and making sure that Hamas doesn’t move back.”
US President Donald Trump looks up while speaking to reporters from his office aboard Air Force One en route to New Orleans to attend the Super Bowl, on 9th February, 2025. PICTURE: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque
Trump made his remarks to reporters aboard Air Force One on his way to New Orleans to attend the National Football League Super Bowl championship.
“There’s nothing to move back into. The place is a demolition site. The remainder will be demolished. Everything’s demolished,” he said.
Trump also said he was open to the possibility of allowing some Palestinian refugees into the United States, but would consider such requests on a case-by-case basis.
Ezzat El Rashq, a member of the Hamas political bureau, condemned Trump’s latest remarks on buying and owning Gaza, the group said in a statement.
“Gaza is not a property to be sold and bought. It is an integral part of our occupied Palestinian land,” and Palestinians will foil displacement plans, Rashq added.
TRUMP SAYS US MIGHT LOSE PATIENCE WITH CEASEFIRE DEAL OVER ISRAELI HOSTAGES’ APPEARANCE
President Trump on Sunday said he was losing patience with the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas after seeing footage of the Palestinian militant group release Israeli hostages over the weekend, whose appearance he compared to Holocaust survivors.
Trump’s reaction to seeing images of the three hostages, who appeared gaunt upon their release on Saturday, brought fresh uncertainty over the deal’s fate before all remaining 76 hostages are freed and came days after the president called for the removal of Palestinians from the enclave and for the US to take control of it.
“They look like Holocaust survivors. They were in horrible condition. They were emaciated,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on his way to New Orleans to attend the Super Bowl. “I don’t know how much longer we can take that…at some point we’re going to lose our patience.”
“I know we have a deal…they dribble in and keep dribbling in…but they are in really bad shape,” Trump said of the Israeli hostages.
Ohad Ben Ami and Eli Sharabi, who were taken hostage from Kibbutz Be’eri during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7th October, 2023, and Or Levy, who was abducted that day from the Nova music festival, were led onto a Hamas podium by gunmen on Saturday ahead of their release to Israeli authorities.
The three men appeared in worse condition than the 18 other hostages previously freed under the truce, which was agreed to on January 15 months into the war. Many Palestinian prisoners freed by Israel have also appeared thin and emaciated.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday the sight of the frail hostages was shocking and would be addressed. In exchange for the three men, Israel freed 183 Palestinian prisoners on Saturday.
– JOEY ROULETTE and JEFF MASON, Washington DC, US/Reuters
Trump has spoken of permanently displacing Palestinians who live in Gaza and would create a “Riviera of the Middle East.”
Trump last week floated the idea of the United States taking over Gaza and engaging in a massive rebuilding effort.
His statement was vague on the future of Palestinians who had endured over a year of bombardment by Israel in response to an October, 2023, attack by Hamas.
It was unclear under what authority the United States would take claim of Gaza. Trump’s announcement drew immediate rebukes from several nations.
Earlier on Sunday, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said Trump was set to meet with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and possibly Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, although he gave no dates for the talks.
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The comments, delivered in an interview with Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo, came in response to a question about Trump’s recently unveiled proposal to take over and redevelop the Gaza Strip.
Herzog did not say when or where the meetings would take place, nor did he discuss their potential content. He also noted that Trump is due to meet with Jordan’s King Abdullah in the coming days, which Jordan’s state news agency has already reported.
“President Trump is due to meet with major, major Arab leaders, first and foremost the king of Jordan and the president of Egypt and I think also the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia as well,” Herzog said.
“These are partners that must be listened to, they must be discussed with. We have to honour their feelings as well and see how we build a plan that is sustainable for the future,” Herzog said.
Saudi Arabia has flatly rejected Trump’s Gaza plan, as have many world leaders.
Jordan’s King Abdullah plans to tell Trump during their planned February 11 meeting in Washington that the proposal is a recipe for radicalism that will spread chaos through the Middle East and jeopardize the kingdom’s peace with Israel, Reuters reported earlier this week.
The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment. It was not immediately possible to contact officials in Cairo and Riyadh.
– Additional reporting by JAIDAA TAHA in Cairo, Egypt; and GRAM SLATTERY AND JOEY ROULETTE in Washington DC, US.
