Washington, MINA – US President Donald Trump repeated his idea of relocating Gazans to other countries during a meeting Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying “I don’t think people should be going back to Gaza”, Anadolu Agency reported.
Netanyahu is the first foreign leader to be hosted by Trump, who assumed office on Jan. 20.
During their meeting at the Oval Office, Trump said he thinks Jordan and Egypt will take in Palestinians from Gaza, maintaining that the enclave is a demolition site and uninhabitable.
“I know they’ve spoken about it with you, and they say they’re not going to accept. I say they will, but I think other countries will accept also,” he said.
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“So I don’t think people should be going back to Gaza. I think that Gaza has been very unlucky for them. They’ve lived like hell. They lived like you’re living in hell. Gaza is not a place for people to be living, and the only reason they want to go back, and I believe that strongly, is because they have no alternative. What’s the alternative to where there’s no other alternative? If they had an alternative, they’d much rather not go back to Gaza and live in a beautiful alternative that’s safe,” he continued.
Trump also suggested that wealthy nations could fund the construction of housing in multiple locations, possibly in Jordan, Egypt or other countries, to resettle Gazans.
“So we can build them through massive amounts of money supplied by other people, very rich nations. And they’ll, they’re willing to supply it if we can build something for them, and one of the countries, and it could be Jordan, and it could be Egypt, it could be other countries, and you could build four or five or six areas. It doesn’t have to be one area. But you take certain areas and build really good-quality housing, like a beautiful town, like someplace where they can live and not die,” said Trump.
He argued that Gaza is a place of death and destruction and suggested that displaced residents would not want to return.
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Netanyahu said that bringing home the hostages in the hands of Hamas is one of the goals to achieve in the enclave.
“I support getting all the hostages out and meeting all our war goals, that include destroying Hamas’ military and governing capabilities and making sure that Gaza never poses a threat to Israel,” he said.
Meanwhile, a group of people gathered near the White House to protest the meeting between Trump and Netanyahu. []
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
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