The international community is already responding to President Donald Trump’s surprise announcement that he intends to have the U.S. government take over the Gaza Strip amid the war between Israel and Hamas.
The only unsurprising aspect of this development is the response from foreign governments who have condemned the idea and insisted on pursuing a two-state solution.
President Trump on securing PEACE in Gaza: "The U.S. will take over the Gaza strip ... and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous, unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site ... create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing… pic.twitter.com/sr3rnO0fE4
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) February 5, 2025
Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry issued a statement saying it “rejects any attempts to displace the Palestinians from their land,” according to Reuters.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer argued that the Palestinians “must be allowed home, they must be allowed to rebuild, and we should be with them in that rebuild on the way to a two-state solution.”
French Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Christophe Lemoine characterized the idea as “a serious violation of international law” and “an attack on the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinians, but also a major obstacle to the two-state solution and a major destabilizing factor for our close partners Egypt and Jordan as well as the entire region.”
President Trump has been trying to persuade the governments of Egypt and Jordan to accept Palestinian residents, a proposition that both have rejected, Reuters reported.
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U.S. President Donald Trump said Jordan and Egypt should take in Palestinians from war-ravaged Gaza, a suggestion rejected by Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that runs the enclave, and apparently rebuffed by Jordan and Egypt.
Asked if this was a temporary or long-term solution for Gaza, where Israel's military assault has caused a dire humanitarian situation and killed tens of thousands, Trump said on Saturday: "Could be either."
Jordan is already home to several million Palestinians, while tens of thousands live in Egypt. Both countries and other Arab nations reject the idea of Palestinians in Gaza being moved to their countries. Gaza is land that Palestinians would want as part of a future Palestinian state.
The Chinese government said it “hopes all parties will take ceasefire and post-conflict governance as an opportunity to bring the Palestinian issue back on the right track of political settlement based on the two-state solution.”
Hamas, the terrorist group that started the war when its operative massacred Israeli civilians on October 7, 2023, also chimed in, telling The Associated Press that “Instead of holding the Zionist occupation accountable for the crime of genocide and displacement, it is being rewarded, not punished.”
The group further argued that Trump’s idea is a “recipe for creating chaos and tension in the region.”
The group has called for mediators to help implement a ceasefire agreement in a statement to Fox News.
"What President Trump stated about his intention to displace the residents of the Gaza Strip outside it and the United States' control over the Strip by force is a crime against humanity," a senior Hamas official also told Fox News on Wednesday.
"We demand that the mediators, especially the United States, oblige the occupation to implement the ceasefire agreement in its three stages without procrastination or manipulation, as we are committed to implementing the agreement as long as the occupation commits to it, and any manipulation in implementing the agreement may cause it to collapse," the official added.
There will likely be even stronger reactions to Trump's plan for the Gaza Strip. It is not yet clear how the president plans to pursue this strategy or whether it will involve sending U.S. troops to the region.
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