President Donald Trump said Monday that under his proposal for U.S. ownership of Gaza, Palestinians who were resettled from the area as part of the process would not have the right to return.
In an interview with Fox News' Bret Baier, when asked if Palestinians could return to Gaza, President Trump said "no, they wouldn't."
“We’ll build safe communities, a little bit away from where they are, where all of this danger is,” President Trump said. “In the meantime, I would own this. Think of it as a real estate development for the future. It would be a beautiful piece of land. No big money spent.”
That contradicts earlier messages from other members of the Trump administration, who said that any resettlement of Palestinians from Gaza would be a temporary measure.
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The comments come less than a week after President Trump floated the proposal during a joint press appearance with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it, too," the president said. "We'll own it, and we'll 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."
This will "create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area," President Trump said at the time, calling the area a potential "Riviera of the Middle East."
The proposal rocked the international community and U.S. allies and adversaries alike denounced the idea.
Egypt and Jordan, U.S. allies that President Trump proposed should take in more Palestinian refugees, have already rejected the idea of moving Palestinians out of Gaza.
Officials from Australia, Ireland, China, New Zealand, Germany, and Russia have all confirmed they still support a two-state solution for Gaza.
