Trump, who was asking a question from a reporter before dinner at the White House, said he was asked if there were still plans to take over Gaza and forcefully banish the strip population.
Trump asked Netanyahu to answer the questions.
“I think President Trump had a great vision. It’s called a free choice. If people want to stay, they can stay. But if they want to leave, they should be able to leave,” Netanyahu replied. Gaza said, “It should not be a prison, it should be an open place.”
The Israeli occupation jumped at Trump’s plan to buy Gaza, framing it as an opportunity to “encourage voluntary migration” of Palestinians from the strip.
Critics and experts have denounced the plan as a way of forcibly expelling Palestinians and ethnic cleansing of strips.
“We work very closely with the United States, and we can find a country that gives the Palestinians a better future,” Netanyahu added.
Trump said he has given “great cooperation” from “neighborhood countries” on the issue.
“Something good is going to happen,” he added.
Trump publicly shared his ambition to turn Gaza into what he calls the “Middle Eastern Riviera.” He argues that expelling native Palestinians is the key to achieving this. In February he said the US would “own” Gaza and rebuild it. He proposed to take over the Palestinians, which Jordan and Egypt had been evacuated, but both countries firmly rejected the idea.
Some Trump officials reportedly discussed providing financial incentives to “encourage” Palestinians to leave. These include housing and monthly scholarships. However, even with incentives, Palestinians are not expected to leave the land.
They came when Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz told the security briefing that the government wanted to create a “humanitarian city” to “concentrate the population” at the ruins of Rafa in southern Gaza. “Our goal is to push them towards immigrants,” he pointed out.
rhm/