Washington (TDI): Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that there was nothing wrong in Donald Trump’s idea to displace Palestinians from Gaza after the US president’s proposal was widely criticized globally.
“The actual idea of allowing Gaza people who want to leave can leave, they can then come back, but you have to rebuild Gaza,” Netanyahu said in an interview with a US news channel.
“It’s an amazing idea and I think it should be really pursued. I think it will create a different future for everyone,” he added.
Trump on Tuesday had called for “permanently” resettling Palestinians from war-hit Gaza and left open the door to deploying US troops there as part of a massive rebuilding operation.
But Trump’s top diplomat and main spokesperson on Wednesday walked back the idea that the president wants the permanent relocation of Palestinians from Gaza, after US allies and even Republican lawmakers rebuffed his proposal that the US take “ownership” of the territory.
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the president only sought to move about 1.8 million Gazans temporarily to allow for reconstruction.
Even that suggestion has drawn criticism from Palestinians, who are worried they may never be allowed back in if they leave, and from the Arab countries that Trump has called on to take them in.
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Rubio, on his first foreign visit as secretary of state, termed Trump’s proposal as a “very generous” offer to assist with debris removal and rebuilding of the enclave following 15 months of fighting between Israel and Hamas.
