Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says there is nothing wrong with Donald Trump's idea to displace Palestinians from Gaza after the United States president's proposal was widely criticised internationally.
"The actual idea of allowing Gazans who want to leave to leave. I mean, what's wrong with that? They can leave, they can then come back, they can relocate and come back. But you have to rebuild Gaza," Netanyahu said in an interview on Fox News on Wednesday (local time).
Netanyahu said he did not believe Trump was suggesting sending US troops to fight Hamas in Gaza or that the United States would finance rebuilding efforts there.
He described the president's idea as a "remarkable" one that "should be really pursued, examined, pursued and done" because it would "create a different future for everyone". He did not offer specifics.
Those remarks followed a joint press conference between Trump and Netanyahu on Tuesday (local time), where the Israeli prime minister said Trump was "thinking outside the box with fresh ideas" and was "showing willingness to puncture conventional thinking".
Earlier on Wednesday the US president's top aides staunchly defended his push to , but they also backed away from elements of the proposal in the face of international condemnation.
Barely two weeks in the job, Trump shattered decades of US policy on Tuesday with a vaguely worded announcement saying he envisioned transforming Gaza into the "Riviera of the Middle East" where international communities could live in harmony after nearly 16 months of Israeli bombardment devastated the coastal enclave and killed more than 47,000 people, according to Palestinian tallies.
The bombardment was sparked by an assault by Hamas — the military group that rules Gaza — on southern Israel on 7 October 2023. Some 1,200 people were killed and about 250 taken hostage, according to the Israeli government.
At a White House briefing on Wednesday, Trump's press secretary Karoline Leavitt hailed his Gaza proposal as "historic" and "outside of the box" thinking but stressed the president had not made a commitment to putting "boots on the ground" in the Palestinian enclave. She declined, however, to rule out potential use of US troops there.
At the same time, Leavitt walked back Trump's earlier assertion that Gazans needed to be permanently resettled in neighbouring countries, saying instead they should be "temporarily relocated" for the rebuilding process.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio also said the idea was for Gazans to leave the territory for an "interim" period of reconstruction and debris-clearing.
It was unclear whether Trump would go ahead with his proposal or, in keeping with his self-image as a shrewd dealmaker, was simply laying out an extreme position as a bargaining ploy. His first term was replete with what critics said were over-the-top foreign policy pronouncements, many of which were never implemented.
Trump's comments come amid , during which the militant group has been turning over hostages in exchange for the release of prisoners held by Israel.
Some experts said Trump's proposed actions could violate international law. Others described his ideas as unworkable. Human rights advocates said it would amount to ethnic cleansing.
The proposal was also widely condemned and rejected by US allies and adversaries.
A 'recipe for creating chaos'
Trump drew rebukes from world powers Russia, China and Germany, which said his plan would foster "new suffering and new hatred."
Jordan's King Abdullah, who will meet Trump at the White House next week, said he rejected any moves to annex land and displace Palestinians. Egypt said it would back Gaza recovery plans, following a ceasefire that took effect on 19 January, without Palestinians leaving the territory.
In Gaza, Palestinians living among the wreckage of their former homes said they would never accept the idea.
"Trump can go to hell, with his ideas, with his money, and with his beliefs. We are going nowhere. We are not some of his assets," said Samir Abu Basel, a father of five in Gaza City displaced from his house by the war.
Hamas, which rules Gaza, labelled the proposal a "recipe for creating chaos and tension in the region".
"Instead of holding the Zionist occupation accountable for the crime of genocide and displacement, it is being rewarded, not punished," the militant group said in a statement.
Regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia rejected the proposal outright, noting that its long call for an independent Palestinian state was a "firm, steadfast and unwavering position".
"The kingdom of Saudi Arabia also stresses what it had previously announced regarding its absolute rejection of infringement on the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, whether through Israeli settlement policies, annexation of Palestinian lands or efforts to displace the Palestinian people from their land," a statement said.
Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese labelled Trump's proposal "nonsense".
"At the same time, it cannot be ignored because it's absolutely utterly unlawful," she told ABC radio on Thursday.
"This is a declaration that the United States intends to commit a crime of forced displacement of the Palestinian people."
United Nations Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese has criticised Donald Trump's plan for the United States to take control of Gaza. Source: AAP / Ida Marie Odgaard/EPA
"We have no country except Palestine. Gaza is a precious part of it. We are not going to leave Gaza," Mansour said.
'I thought we voted for America First'
The proposal has divided the Republican party, with some expressing concern and others backing the "bold" idea.
House speaker Mike Johnson said it was: "a bold move — certainly far bolder than what's been done before" and "we'll stand with the president on his initiative."
However sceptical politicians said they still favoured the two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians that has long been a foundation of US diplomacy. Some also rejected the idea of spending US taxpayer dollars or sending in US troops to a region that has been devastated by more than a year of war.
"I thought we voted for America First," Republican senator Rand Paul wrote on X.
"We have no business contemplating yet another occupation to doom our treasure and spill our soldiers blood."
Republicans hold narrow majorities in Congress over Democrats, who rejected the idea outright.
"That is ethnic cleansing by another name," senator Chris Van Hollen said on MSNBC.
Senator Chris Coons called Trump's comments "offensive and insane and dangerous and foolish".
The idea "risks the rest of the world thinking that we are an unbalanced and unreliable partner because our president makes insane proposals," Coons said, noting the proposal came shortly after Trump had moved to dismantle the US Agency for International Development.
Republican senator Jerry Moran said the idea of a two-state solution cannot just be thrown out.
"It's not something that can be unilaterally decided," he said.
