Reuters
Thousands of displaced Palestinians made the journey from south Gaza to the north of the strip following a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in January
US President Donald Trump’s proposal to resettle Gaza’s population would only be temporary, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said.
It follows Trump’s suggestion that the US could “take over” Gaza and resettle around two million Palestinians living there – an idea that has drawn criticism from the UN, human rights groups and Arab leaders.
White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt further clarified Trump’s comments, saying the US was not planning to put “boots on the ground” in the territory.
On a trip to Guatemala, Rubio said Trump’s proposal was not “hostile”, but a “generous move”, showing “the willingness of the United States to become responsible for the reconstruction of that area”.
He said the idea was for Gazans to leave the territory for an “interim” period while debris was cleared and reconstruction took place.
Under international law, attempts to forcibly transfer populations from occupied territory are strictly prohibited.
Meanwhile, Karoline Leavitt told journalists at the White House on Wednesday that the president was committed to rebuilding Gaza and “temporarily” relocating its residents during the process.
Trump said on Tuesday the displacement would be permanent.
Leavitt also said the president had not committed to putting “boots on the ground” in the territory but declined to rule out the use of US troops there.
Her comments come after Trump proposed taking control of the Gaza Strip and redeveloping it into “the Riviera of the Middle East”.
“The US will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it too,” Trump said on Tuesday during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who called the idea “worth paying attention to”.
Watch: Trump ‘not committed’ to boots on the ground in Gaza, says White House
Fifteen months of fighting have left the Gaza Strip, a territory 41km (25 miles) long and 10km (6 miles) wide, largely uninhabitable.
Entire districts have been razed to the ground. Agricultural land where greenhouses once stood has been reduced to sand and rubble.
The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has warned that it could take 21 years to remove and dispose of all debris.
It described the water and sanitation systems as “almost entirely defunct”, warned of mounting rubbish around camps and shelters, and highlighted the risk that chemicals from destroyed solar panels and the munitions being used could contaminate soil and water supplies.
More than 50 million tonnes of debris have accumulated as a result of the destruction, according to the UN body.
The Israeli military launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage.
More than 47,550 people have been killed and 111,600 injured in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
