In a joint press conference after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Donald Trump proposed that the U.S. take “long-term ownership” of the Palestinian territory of Gaza and proceed with economic development.
Although the plan proposed in part that the U.S. would remove buildings damaged in the fighting as well as unexploded shells, it also included moving residents to a third country outside of Gaza in a permanent resettlement. The plan is not very feasible, ignores the residents’ right to self-determination, and is a wild proposal that may encourage ethnic cleansing. Trump should retract his suggestion.
On Jan. 19, a cease-fire between Israel and the Islamic organization Hamas took effect in Gaza. Citizens, most of them refugees, rushed back to their homes.
Late last month, Trump also called for neighboring countries Egypt and Jordan to accept Gazan refugees, but both countries, as well as other Arab nations, have vehemently rejected the request. Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, along with Saudi Arabia, also immediately rejected Trump’s Gaza ownership plan.
Netanyahu judged Trump’s suggestion “worth listening carefully” to, but opposition from Arab nations and other related parties makes it extremely unlikely that plan can be carried out.
However, since Israel began its assault on Gaza in October 2023, it has repeatedly engaged in conduct suspected of being ethnic cleansing. In that same month, an Israeli government document revealed a plan to deport Gaza residents to Egypt, and in October 2024, it launched an attack on northern Gaza, cutting off aid supplies amid rumors of a plan to depopulate, annex and resettle northern Gaza.
Trump’s son-in-law, businessman Jared Kushner, said that “Gaza’s waterfront property could be very valuable” [https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/mar/19/jared-kushner-gaza-waterfront-property-israel-negev][mb], and expressed a desire to proceed with plans to clear out the residents and develop the area.
Trump’s proposal echoes that same line of thinking about purging residents from Gaza.
Ethnic cleansing by deportation is a crime that violates Article 1 of the U.N. Charter, and must absolutely not be allowed. The plan for U.S. ownership of Gaza is also contrary to a two-state solution, in which the U.S. itself and the U.N. assert that establishing a Palestinian state is a prerequisite for peace.
This is a crossroads that could make or break the postwar international order. The international community, including Japan, should not overlook this proposal, even if has not very feasible, and should strongly reject it.
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