Trump calls for Gaza Strip to be handed over after the war

VOL.AT - Vorarlberg Online Trump calls for Gaza Strip to be handed over after the war 16 hours • 4 minutes reading time The new US President Donald Trump gives further details of his plans for the Gaza Strip on his short message service Truth Social. Israel should hand over control of the area to the USA after the fighting ends, Trump wrote. The Palestinians should be relocated to "safer communities". The USA would work with development teams from all over the world. Nevertheless, only Israeli politicians are enthusiastic. "No US soldiers would be needed! There would be stability in the region," wrote Trump. The new US President had previously announced that he wanted to bring the Gaza Strip under US control and "own" it. Trump wants to transform the region devastated by the war with Israel into a "Riviera of the Middle East". Israel welcomed the US plans and says it is already working on plans to persuade Palestinians to "voluntarily leave" the coastal strip. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the devastated Gaza Strip is currently uninhabitable. People have to live "somewhere else" while the region is being rebuilt. "I think it's just a realistic fact that people have to live somewhere else in the meantime to get a place like this back in order," said Rubio on the sidelines of a trip to the Dominican Republic. Rubio called on other countries to offer help in rebuilding the Gaza Strip. Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz instructed the Israeli army on Thursday to prepare a plan for the "voluntary departure" of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. The plan should "allow all residents of the Gaza Strip who want to leave to do so" and "to any country that is willing to accept them," Katz said on Thursday. The plan will allow exit via border crossings as well as "special arrangements for departure by sea and air." According to Trump's wishes, the area's residents will in future be accommodated in other Arab states in the region. The radical Islamic Palestinian organization Hamas naturally condemned Trump's move and spoke of a "declaration of intent to occupy." "The Gaza Strip belongs to its people and they will not go away," said Hamas spokesman Hasem Kassem. He called for an emergency summit of Arab states to oppose Trump's plan. "We do not need a country to administer Gaza," Kassem said, adding: "We refuse to replace one occupying power with another." The Hamas spokesman called on the Arab states to withstand Trump's pressure and at the same time called on international organizations to "take strong measures against Trump's plan." Israeli top politicians welcome Trump's plans Netanyahu spoke out in favor of implementing the proposal on the US broadcaster "Fox News." "The actual idea of ​​allowing Gaza residents who want to leave to leave. I mean, what's wrong with that? They can leave, they can then come back, they can move and come back. But you have to rebuild the Gaza Strip," Netanyahu said. Trump's idea should be pursued and implemented. Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich praised the Defense Minister's order. He welcomed Katz's decision to instruct the army to prepare for "implementing our role in the migration plan and facilitating the departure of people from the Gaza Strip to host countries," he said. So far, Israel has banned Palestinians from leaving the Gaza Strip at all. The only border crossing with Egypt is currently only open for the evacuation of a few injured people. In his statement, Defense Minister Katz initially left it open whether Palestinians would also be able to leave the Gaza Strip via Israel. The only airport in the Gaza Strip was destroyed in the early 2000s, and the Palestinian territory also has no port for transporting passengers. Egypt sees ceasefire negotiations at risk For its neighbor Egypt, Israel's support for Trump's initiative is jeopardizing further negotiations on the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Israel's stance "weakens and destroys negotiations on a ceasefire agreement and incites a return to fighting," said a statement from the mediator country Egypt on Thursday. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry referred to "the statements made today by several members of the Israeli government," without naming names. Trump's plan "represents a blatant and flagrant violation of international law" and violates the most basic rights of the Palestinian people, the ministry in Cairo emphasized.