WASHINGTON (Dispatches) – U.S. President Donald Trump says Gaza will be “turned over” to the U.S. at the end of the Zionist regime’s war on the besieged territory, but that “no soldiers by the U.S. would be needed.”
Trump’s announcement in a social media post adds fresh confusion to his earlier proposal to transfer Palestinians out of Gaza and have the U.S. take over the war-ruined region.
“The Gaza Strip would be turned over to the United States by Israel at the conclusion of fighting,” Trump said in an early morning post. “No soldiers by the U.S. would be needed! Stability for the region would reign!!!”
In his new post, he claimed that the Palestinians would have “a chance to be happy, safe, and free” under his relocation scheme which envisions them being displaced to Egypt and Jordan.
“The U.S., working with great development teams from all over the World, would slowly and carefully begin the construction of what would become one of the greatest and most spectacular developments of its kind on Earth,” Trump said.
U.S. officials have made it clear that Washington would not foot the bill. Expressing that no U.S. soldiers would be needed for the scheme, Trump claimed on Thursday that his actions would bring stability to the region.
Morocco, Puntland, and Somaliland have been named as potential destinations for Palestinians who can be forcibly expelled from Gaza under Trump’s controversial plan to “take over” the strip.
The Trump administration proposed relocating Gazans to Morocco, the Puntland State of Somalia, and the secessionist Republic of Somaliland, noting that their dependence on Washington’s recognition are expected to be used to advance the U.S. president’s proposal, Israel’s Channel 12 reported. 
Morocco seeks recognition of its sovereignty over the disputed Western Saraha, while Somaliland and Puntland are not recognized globally as independent countries.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem on Thursday warned that Trump’s plan is a “declaration of intent to occupy” the Palestinian territory.
The Palestinian resistance group called for “an urgent Arab summit to confront the displacement” of Palestinians from Gaza, Qassem said in a statement.
Hamas’s spokesman condemned Trump’s statements as “absolutely unacceptable”.
“Gaza is for its people and they will not leave,” Qassem said. “We call for the convening of an emergency Arab summit to confront the displacement project,” he added.
“Trump’s remarks about Washington taking control of Gaza amount to an open declaration of intent to occupy the territory,” he said.
“We do not need any country to run the Gaza Strip and we do not accept replacing one occupation with another.”
The United Nations warned that “any forced displacement of people would be tantamount to ethnic cleansing.”
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a speech to a UN committee that deals with the rights of Palestinians that “at its essence, the exercise of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people is about the right of Palestinians to simply live as human beings in their own land.”
China said on Thursday that it opposes Trump’s push to transfer Palestinians out of Gaza. The country’s foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said that Beijing firmly supports the legitimate national rights of the Palestinian people.
“Gaza is the Gaza of Palestinians, an integral part of the Palestinian territory, not a political bargaining chip, let alone the target of a law of the jungle,” Guo said.