Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said US President Donald Trump’s idea of moving Palestinians out of the war-torn Gaza Strip was a “revolutionary and creative vision”.
In a statement to his cabinet following his “historic” visit to Washington, Netanyahu said the talks that he held with Trump included “additional considerable achievements that can ensure the security of Israel for generations”.
“I am not exaggerating. There are opportunities for possibilities that I think we never dreamed of, or at least a few months ago they did not seem possible – but they are possible,” he said days after Trump suggested that the US should take control of the Gaza Strip and move about two million Gazans out of the territory to other countries in the region, a plan dubbed the “Riviera of the Middle East“.
“President Trump came with a completely different vision, much better for the State of Israel, a revolutionary and creative vision, which we are discussing. He is very determined to carry it out. This also opens many possibilities before us,” Netanyahu said.
In a Fox News interview aired Saturday, Netanyahu said Trump’s plan is the “first fresh idea in years”.
“It has the potential to change everything in Gaza,” he said, adding that it represents a “correct approach” to the future of the Palestinian territory.
Since returning to power last month, Trump has repeatedly suggested that Palestinians in Gaza should be taken in by regional Arab nations such as Egypt and Jordan, an idea rejected by both the Arab states and Palestinian leaders.
How Netanyahu Plans To Executive Trump’s Plan
Benjamin Netanyahu has said that relocated Palestinians would have to “disavow terrorism” to be allowed to return to Gaza.
“Give them the option to relocate temporarily while we rebuild the place physically and while we also rebuild it in terms of radicalization. You want to come back? You have to disavow terrorism, but you can come back,” he told Fox News.
“Get the population out, allow them to leave. Not forcible eviction, not ethnic cleansing — getting people out of what all these countries and all these do-gooders say is an open-air prison. Why are you keeping them in prison?” he said.
The Israeli PM said the main challenge is where to send the Gazans.
He also said that a Palestinian state could be “in Saudi Arabia”.
Israel-Hamas War In Gaza
Israel seized the Gaza Strip in 1967 and maintained a military presence in the territory until 2005 when it pulled out settlers and its troops. A year later, Hamas won parliamentary elections and seized full control of Gaza in 2007.
Major fighting then flared in Gaza in 2008, 2012, 2014 and 2021.
The latest war in Gaza began when Hamas launched an attack on Israeli towns on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200. They also took 251 hostages, of whom 73 remain in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory strikes have since then killed more than 48,000 people in Gaza and displaced nearly 1.9 million people.
Israel and Hamas, however, agreed on a ceasefire ahead of Trump’s inauguration on January 20.
(With agency inputs)
