Saudis, UN Security Council members reject Trump’s Gaza bombshell

President Donald Trump’s plan for the U.S. to take over war-torn Gaza and create a “Riviera of the Middle East” after resettling Palestinians elsewhere has shattered U.S. policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and sparked widespread criticism.

The shock move from Trump, a former New York property developer, was swiftly condemned by international powers, with regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia, which Trump hopes will establish ties with Israel, rejecting the plan outright.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has affirmed the kingdom’s position in “a clear and explicit manner” that does not allow for any interpretation under any circumstances, the statement from Riyadh read.

UN Security Council members Russia, China, France and Britain said they continued to support the two-state solution that has formed the basis of Washington’s policy in the region for decades.

Trump, in his first major Middle East policy announcement, said he envisioned building a resort where international communities could live in harmony after over 15 months of Israeli bombardment devastated the tiny coastal enclave and killed more than 47,000 people, by Palestinian tallies. Israel’s onslaught came after Hamas militants led attacks that killed some 1,200 people on Oct. 7, 2023, according to the Israeli government, with about 240 taken hostage.

“We’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site, level the site and get rid of the destroyed buildings,” Trump said at the White House, reading prepared remarks.

A UN damage assessment released in January showed that clearing over 50 million tonnes of rubble left in Gaza alone could take 21 years and cost up to $1.2 billion US.

Trump’s son-in-law and former aide, Jared Kushner, last year described Gaza as “valuable” waterfront property.

Trump provided no specifics of his plan, unveiled at a joint news conference on Tuesday with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The U.S. taking a direct stake in Gaza would run counter to longtime policy in Washington and for much of the international community, which has held that Gaza would be part of a future Palestinian state that includes the occupied West Bank.

‘We are going nowhere’

Displacement is a highly sensitive issue among both Palestinians and Arab countries.

As fighting raged in the Gaza war, Palestinians feared they would suffer from another “Nakba,” or catastrophe, referring to the time when hundreds of thousands were dispossessed of their homes in the 1948 war at the birth of the state of Israel.

“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,” Samir Abu Basil, 40, a father of five from Gaza City, told Reuters via a chat app.

An official from Palestinian militant group Hamas, which ruled the Gaza Strip before fighting Israel in a brutal war there, said Trump’s statement about taking over the enclave was “ridiculous and absurd.”

“Any ideas of this kind are capable of igniting the region,” Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters, saying Hamas remains committed to the ceasefire accord with Israel and “ensuring the success of the negotiation in the second phase.”

Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority said the Palestinians will not relinquish their land, rights, and sacred sites, including the Gaza Strip along with the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Plan would violate UN resolutions, countries say

Trump’s casual proposal sent diplomatic shockwaves across the Middle East and around the globe. 

“China has always believed that Palestinians governing Palestine is the basic principle of post-conflict governance,” China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said, adding Beijing backs a two-state solution in the region.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov reiterated Russia’s position that the only way to resolve the Middle East conflict was through the creation of a Palestinian state to exist side-by-side with Israel.

“This is the thesis that is enshrined in the relevant UN Security Council resolution, this is the thesis that is shared by the overwhelming majority of countries involved in this problem. We proceed from it, we support it and believe that this is the only possible option,” he told reporters.

Irish Foreign Minister Simon Harris in a statement also highlighted the “clear contradiction with UN Security Council resolutions.”

Peskov added that Trump’s resettlement idea had been rejected by major Arab capitals.

It was a point also made by France’s foreign ministry spokesperson Christophe Lemoine, who said in a statement that the forced displacement of Palestinians would be “a major destabilizing factor for our close partners Egypt and Jordan as well as for the entire region.”

Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday its top diplomat, Badr Abdelatty, had discussed with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa the importance of moving forward with recovery projects in Gaza without Palestinians leaving the Gaza Strip.

‘Ethnic cleansing by another name’

The comments also rocked legislators in U.S. Congress.

Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat, characterized it as “ethnic cleansing by another name,” and said that Trump was “throwing a match on an already volatile region,” in an interview with MSNBC.

Democratic Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy said a U.S. invasion of Gaza would lead to the killing of American troops, while Democratic House member Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, born to Palestinian parents, deemed it “fanatical bullshit.”

Reaction from Republicans on Capitol Hill was more muted, with Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally, saying “most South Carolinians are probably not excited about sending Americans to take over Gaza,” in reference to the state he represents.

“I think that might be problematic, but I’ll keep an open mind,” he added.

North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis told U.S. reporters that “there are probably a couple of kinks in that Slinky, but I’ll have to take a look at the statement.”

It is not clear whether Trump will go ahead with his controversial plan or is simply taking an extreme position as a bargaining strategy.

Murphy also said he believed it was a distraction from Trump’s ongoing, overt attempts to remake the U.S. federal government early in his term.

Trump said that he plans to visit Gaza, Israel and Saudi Arabia, but did not say when he plans to go.

Netanyahu praised Trump for “thinking outside the box with fresh ideas” and “showing willingness to puncture conventional thinking.”