President Donald Trump suggested again on Thursday that the United States could assume ownership of the Gaza Strip as a part of his plan to redevelop the war-torn enclave.
Trump is currently on his first trip to the Middle East since returning to office, and he has touted new investment and defense deals with multiple countries, but he will not be stopping in Israel during his visit.
“If it's necessary, I think I’d be proud to have the United States have it, take it, make it a freedom zone. Let some good things happen, put people in homes where they can be safe, and Hamas is going to have to be dealt with,” Trump said during a roundtable with Qatari officials.
It's unclear whether the president's comments on Thursday are an extension of his previous idea for the U.S. to take over the Strip, pushing Palestinians into neighboring Arab countries. He declared there was an opportunity to create a "Riviera of the Middle East."
Arab leaders from across the Middle East denounced the president's proposal then, arguing that pushing Palestinians out of Gaza would amount to ethnic cleansing.
“I have concepts for Gaza that I think are very good. Make it a freedom zone, let the United States get involved," Trump continued, later adding, “They’ve never solved the Gaza problem, and if you look at it, I have aerial shots, I mean, there’s practically no building standing, there’s no building. People are living under the rubble of buildings that collapsed, which is not acceptable; it's tremendous death. And I want to see that be a freedom zone.”
The president also called Gaza "a demolition site right now," a reference to the overwhelming destruction throughout the strip due to Israel's bombardment and ground operations that have gone on for a year and a half now. Trump administration officials have warned that the reconstruction of Gaza could take more than a decade.
Despite the destruction, significant casualty count, and lack of humanitarian aid going into Israel, the Trump administration has not expressed concerns publicly about the way they are operating in the enclave.
Hamas's Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack in southern Israel ignited the conflict. In the attack, Hamas fighters and others stormed through the border in southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people and kidnapping about 250 others. Hamas still holds 58 of those hostages, about a third of whom are believed to still be alive.
Israel's military has conducted its most devastating operations against Hamas since then, declaring it their mission to demilitarize Hamas, remove them from power in Gaza, and to ensure they no longer have the capabilities to carry out any future attacks. Israel has decimated Hamas's senior ranks, including killing the masterminds behind the Oct. 7 attack, but they continue to have a presence in Gaza.
More than 50,000 Palestinians are believed to have been killed during the war, though it's unclear how many of that total were Hamas militants.
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In an attempt to pressure Hamas into making concessions, Israel cut off humanitarian aid to Gaza back in early March and restarted military operations a couple of weeks later. More extreme members of Israel's government want to pursue a reoccupation of Gaza to ensure Hamas's lasting defeat.
Israeli strikes have reportedly killed dozens this week alone.