Tehran, Karafarinane Eghtesad – United States President Donald Trump has proposed that the U.S. take “ownership” of the Gaza Strip and turn it into a hub of tourism, in a brazen interference that would permanently displace the Palestinian inhabitants of the war-torn territory.

Speaking at a Tuesday evening news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by his side, Trump claimed the U.S. would redevelop Gaza after Palestinians are resettled elsewhere and turn the territory into a place where the “world’s people” would live.

“The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too,” the real estate investor-turned-president said. “We’ll own it and be responsible” for clearing it out and rebuilding it into “the Riviera of the Middle East.”

Trump also suggested that the U.S. would take a “long-term ownership position” over the territory, adding that his administration would clear out destroyed buildings and dismantle “dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons.”

Asked if U.S. soldiers could be deployed to Gaza, Trump said it was a possibility. “As far as Gaza is concerned, we’ll do what is necessary. If it’s necessary, we’ll do that,” he said.

‘Gaza is not for sale’

After Trump’s call for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza, hundreds of protesters gathered outside the White House in Washington, D.C., warning him that the Palestinian territory is not for sale.

“Gaza is not for sale,” the protesters shouted on Tuesday evening.

The U.S. president’s provocative comments were immediately followed by condemnation from the Palestinian resistance movement of Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip. The group said Trump’s scheme is a “recipe for creating chaos and tension in the region.”

“Our people in the Gaza Strip will not allow these plans to pass,” Hamas said in a statement. “What is required is an end to the occupation and aggression against our people, not their expulsion from their land. Our people in Gaza have thwarted displacement and deportation plans under bombardment for more than 15 months.”

Egypt, Jordan, and other U.S. allies in West Asia have already warned Trump against the relocation of Palestinians from Gaza. 

Last week, both Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and Jordanian King Abdullah II dismissed Trump’s calls to permanently resettle the displaced Palestinians.

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