US President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that the United States will "take control of the Gaza Strip" during a press conference alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"The United States will take control of the Gaza Strip and we will do a good job with it. We will own it and be responsible for dismantling all the dangerous unexploded bombs and all the weapons," said the US President. He added that the United States would "level the area and remove the destroyed buildings" to develop the territory economically and create jobs.
When asked by journalists to clarify his statements, Trump added that he was considering "a long-term takeover" of Gaza by the United States if necessary. He did not respond to questions regarding which authority granted him the power to seize a sovereign territory.
Credit: Wikimedia Commons / Naaman Omar
At the end of the press conference, Trump also promised to turn the area, devastated by months of Israeli bombings, into "the French Riviera of the Middle East."
Donald Trump pledged to visit the Gaza Strip. "I love Israel and I will go there, and I will go to Gaza, Saudi Arabia, and many other places throughout the Middle East," he stated.
Benjamin Netanyahu remarked that Trump’s plan for Gaza could “change history.” He noted that the US President was “exploring” this option and suggested that the American proposal offered a “different future” for the Palestinian territory, which “deserves attention."
