Trump suggests U.S. ‘take over’ Gaza: Live updates

The Hamas group in Gaza rejected U.S. president Donald Trump’s suggestion that dispalced Palestinians should permanently resettle outside the Strip and proposed Washington take ownership in redeveloping the area.

“Instead of holding the Zionist occupation accountable for the crime of genocide and displacement, it is being rewarded, not punished,” Hamas said in a statement.

“We reject Trump’s statements in which he said that the residents of the Gaza Strip have no choice but to leave, and we consider them a recipe for creating chaos and tension in the region.”

President Donald Trump has suggested that displaced Palestinians in Gaza be permanently resettled outside the war-torn territory and proposed the U.S. take “ownership” in redeveloping the area into “the Riviera of the Middle East”.

The president’s proposal was greeted with alarm by Democrats and a measure of skepticism by his Republican allies.“He’s completely lost it,” said senator Chris Murphy.

“He wants a U.S. invasion of Gaza, which would cost thousands of American lives and set the Middle East on fire for 20 years? It’s sick.”

U.S. secretary of state Marco Rubio late on Tuesday appeared to back president Donald Trump’s plan for a U.S. takeover of Gaza, saying the Palestinian enclave must be free from Islamist group Hamas.”Gaza MUST BE FREE from Hamas.

As @POTUS shared today, the United States stands ready to lead and Make Gaza Beautiful Again,” Mr Rubio said on X. “Our pursuit is one of lasting peace in the region for all people.

“While Mr Trump had floated suggestions of Palestinian displacement since 25 January, statements issued since by Mr Rubio’s State Department on its websites after the top U.S. diplomat’s subsequent calls with regional leaders did not explicitly mention Trump’s suggestion.

Mr Trump did not offer much detail in his Tuesday proposal. Mr Rubio’s post also did not elaborate further.

Donald Trump said that he would love to make a deal with Iran but said it cannot become a nuclear power.

He said he would like to improve bilateral relations only if Tehran agrees to the condition.

“I say this to Iran, who’s listening very intently, ‘I would love to be able to make a great deal. A deal where you can get on with your lives,'” Mr Trump told reporters in Washington.

“They cannot have one thing. They cannot have a nuclear weapon and if I think that they will have a nuclear weapon … I think that’s going to be very unfortunate for them,” he said.

As reactions continue to pour in on Donald Trump’s Gaza comments, Democratic senator Chris Murphy lashed out at the president, calling his suggestion a “bad, sick joke”.

“He’s totally lost it. A U.S. invasion of Gaza would lead to the slaughter of thousands of US troops and decades of war in the Middle East. It’s like a bad, sick joke,” he said on X.

Democratic representative Jake Auchincloss called the proposal “reckless and unreasonable” in an interview with NewsNation and warned that it could jeopardise the second phase of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

“We have to look at Trump’s motives,” he said. “As always, when Trump proposes a policy item, there is a nepotistic, self-serving connection.”Referring to Mr Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, he added, “They want to turn this into resorts.”

Democratic congresswoman Rashida Tlaib has condemned Donald Trump for his comments on “taking over” Gaza, accusing him of ethnic cleansing of the people.

“This president is openly calling for ethnic cleansing while sitting next to a genocidal war criminal,” she said on X.

“He’s perfectly fine cutting off working Americans from federal funds while the funding to the Israeli government continues flowing.”

Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese has doubled down on his support of the two-state solution in Gaza following Donald Trump’s shock comments of a possible “takeover” and “levelling” of the Palestinian enclave amid the Israel-Hamas war.

Mr Albanese refused to comment on Mr Trump’s remarks on Tuesday in a meeting alongside Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he said he saw the United States taking “a long-term ownership position” that would bring “great stability to the Middle East” region.

In a press conference on Wednesday, Mr Albanese said he doesn’t do “running commentary” when asked about the US president’s comments.

“[What] I would say is that Australia’s position is the same as it was this morning, as it was last year, and it was 10 years ago, and it was under the Howard government,” Mr Albanese said.

He added that the government supports a two-state solution in Gaza which envisages Israeli and Palestinian states alongside each other.

“What we have said, though, clearly, we’ve supported a ceasefire. We’ve supported hostages being released. And we’ve supported aid getting into Gaza,” he said.

Egypt, Jordan and other US allies in the Middle East have cautioned Donald Trump that relocating Palestinians from Gaza would threaten Mideast stability, risk expanding the conflict and undermine a decades-long push by the U.S. and allies for a two-state solution.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry issued a sharply worded reaction to Trump, noting their long call for an independent Palestinian state was a “firm, steadfast and unwavering position”. Saudi Arabia has been in negotiations with the U.S. over a deal to diplomatically recognize Israel in exchange for a security pact and other terms.

“The duty of the international community today is to work to alleviate the severe human suffering endured by the Palestinian people, who will remain committed to their land and will not budge from it,” the Saudi statement said.Still, Trump insists the Palestinians “have no alternative” but to leave the “big pile of rubble” that is Gaza.

He spoke out as his top aides stressed that a three-to-five-year timeline for reconstruction of the war-torn territory, as laid out in a temporary truce agreement, is not viable.

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