WASHINGTON —
U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday evening he has not seen the proposal being discussed by Arab leaders as an alternative to his plan to take over Gaza once the war between Hamas and Israel ends.
“I haven’t seen it,” Trump said in response to a reporter’s question on Air Force One. “Once I see it, I’ll let you know,” he added.
Trump said early this month he wants to forcibly relocate almost 2 million Palestinians from Gaza into neighboring Jordan and Egypt. He said the United States will “own” the territory and turn it into the “Riviera of the Middle East,” which prompted rejection by Arab countries.
It’s unclear whether Trump is serious or merely threatening to extract concessions from Arab states. During a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh this week, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested that it could be the latter, urging regional leaders to make a counteroffer.
The will host leaders of Egypt, Jordan, and other Gulf Cooperation Council states of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates Friday in Riyadh to discuss options, including an Egyptian plan to raise up to $20 billion over three years from Arab and Gulf states for Gaza’s reconstruction. Under this plan, Gazans would not be forced out and the strip would be governed by Palestinians.
Trump spoke en route to Washington after delivering remarks at a conference in Miami, hosted by the Future Investment Initiative Institute, the nonprofit arm of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund – the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund led by the crown prince.
His speech marked the first time a U.S. president addressed the annual gathering of global financiers and tech executives. It is a testament to how the Saudi crown prince, known by his initials MBS, has leveraged his connection to Trump, Laura Blumenfeld, senior fellow at the Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies, said.
The prince established close ties during Trump’s first term and continued business ties with the Trump organization while the president was out of office, including investing $2 billion to a firm belonging to Trump’s son-in-law and former aide, Jared Kushner.
“Trump believes in the Golden Rule, but not the Golden Rule from Sunday school,” Blumenfeld told VOA. “It's if you're rich, you're right.”
As Riyadh leads the charge to unify Arab nations to support postwar Gaza, there may be signs that Trump is softening his demand. In his wide-ranging remarks that lasted over an hour, Trump did not mention Gaza beyond repeating what he said was his role on the ceasefire signed January 19, during the last day then-President Joe Biden was in office.
“We've secured a ceasefire in Gaza, and we're bringing in the hostages, and we're bringing them home to their families,” Trump said, adding that some of the hostages “are in pretty bad shape.”
He lauded Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of the Saudi wealth fund, and Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed bin Abdullah al-Jadaan. The White House did not immediately respond to VOA’s query on whether Trump met with any of the Saudi delegation during the event.
During his Wednesday remarks Trump thanked the Saudi crown prince for hosting talks between U.S. and Russian officials Tuesday to find a way to end the war in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European allies have decried the meeting as an effort to sideline Kyiv.
Egypt's state-run newspaper said under the proposal, “secure areas” equipped with mobile houses and shelters will be established as living areas in Gaza while Egyptian and international construction firms rebuild the devastated infrastructure.
The proposal also calls for forming a national Palestinian committee of technocrats and community leaders unaffiliated with Hamas to govern postwar Gaza.
It is unclear whether the plan has the support of the Palestinian Authority, the internationally recognized body that currently rules parts of the West Bank and administered Gaza until it lost the 2006 election to Hamas.
“What is needed now is a political solution to Gaza to make that reconstruction both physically possible and long term sustainable,” said Tariq Kenney-Shawa, U.S. Policy Fellow at the Palestinian Policy Network Al-Shabaka.
The goal is that “we don't return to a situation where Gaza remains under occupation,” he told VOA.
On Monday Hamas indicated a willingness to cede any postwar governance role.
“It is not necessary for Hamas to be part of the political and administrative arrangements in the next phase for Gaza, especially if it serves the interests of our people,” Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qasim told Al Arabiya TV.