Washington, USA – US President Donald Trump said Palestinians wouldn’t have the right to return to Gaza under his new plan to rebuild the territory, adding that they would get “much better housing” instead in neighbouring countries. 

“In other words, I’m talking about building a permanent place for them because if they have to return now, it’ll be years before you could ever – it’s not habitable,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News’ that was conducted on Sunday. “It would be years before it could happen.”

“We’ll build safe communities a little bit away from where they are, where all of this danger is. 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,” Trump said.

Asked directly by the interviewer if Palestinians would “have the right to return”, Trump said flatly, “No, they wouldn’t, because they’re going to have much better housing.”

“I’m talking about starting to build and I think I could make a deal with Jordan, I think I could make a deal with Egypt, you know, we give them billions and billions of dollars a year,” he added.

Trump rolled out his proposal in the midst of an ongoing ceasefire that has halted Israel’s war on Gaza after 15 months. His plan to take ownership of Gaza has been roundly rejected on the world stage, but Trump has insisted that he will see it through, repeatedly claiming he can force Egypt and Jordan to settle Palestinian refugees – claims they have publicly rebuffed, as have the Palestinians.

Anadolu Agency