President Donald Trump’s proposal that the US take over the Gaza strip and permanently resettle its Palestinian residents was swiftly rejected and denounced on Wednesday by American allies and adversaries alike.
Trump’s suggestion came at a White House news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanhayu, who smiled several times as the president detailed a plan to build new settlements for Palestinians outside the Gaza Strip, and for the U.S. to take “ownership” in redeveloping the war-torn territory into “the Riviera of the Middle East.”
“The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too,” Trump said. “We’ll own it and 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, level it out, create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs.”
Whatever you think about Trump, he is a man of action, and his decisisions resonate around the world. Taking over a foreign territory sounds outrageous, colonial even. But in the middle east, and Gaza in particular, it does make sense. The centuries-old conflict has been the cause of misery and despair and so much blood-shed and it never looks like being resolved. A US-military led solution could be the firm hand required to bring some sense of peace.
