President Donald Trump outlined ambitious plans to resettle Gaza’s population, “take over” the war-torn strip, clear out “unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site,” and spearhead “economic development.” A rebuilt Gaza, Trump said, could be “the Riviera of the Middle East.”
Trump’s remarks came during a Tuesday evening joint press conference with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who became the first foreign leader to visit the White House during Trump’s second term. Trump spoke at length about his call, first floated last week, to resettle Gaza’s residents. The strip, Trump said, “has been a symbol of death and destruction for decades” and “should not go through a process of rebuilding and occupation by the same people who have … lived a miserable existence there.” Instead, he said, the United States “will take over the Gaza Strip” through “a long-term ownership position” and lead the rebuilding process.
.@KellyO on U.S. taking over Gaza strip: “Are you talking about a permanent occupation there? Redevelopment?”
President Trump: “I do see a long-term ownership position…” pic.twitter.com/AOvHSZZPFR
— CSPAN (@cspan) February 5, 2025
“It just can’t go back. If you go back, it’s going to end up the same way it has for 100 years,” Trump said of Gaza. “We have an opportunity to do something that could be phenomenal, and I don’t want to be cute, I don’t want to be a wise guy, but the Riviera of the Middle East—this could be something that could be so magnificent.”
JUST IN: President Trump says the Gaza Strip will become the “Riviera of the Middle East” just minutes after saying the U.S. would “take over” the Strip.
“We have an opportunity to do something that could be phenomenal.”
“I don’t wanna be cute. I don’t wanna be a wise guy, but… pic.twitter.com/zC1GIo7lfw
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) February 5, 2025
Gazan resettlement plans were long considered taboo in Israel but briefly went mainstream after Oct. 7. Following criticism from the United States and Europe, however, a group of Israeli officials came out against such plans last January.
Now, Trump is taking a different approach, and Netanyahu responded positively during the Tuesday press conference.
“I believe, Mr. President, that your willingness to puncture conventional thinking, thinking that has failed time and time again, your willingness to think outside the box with fresh ideas, will help us achieve all of these goals,” Netanyahu said. “I’ve said this before, I’ll say it again, you are the greatest friend Israel has ever had in the White House.”
Trump’s focus on what has long been seen as an impossible policy proposal signals that the new administration is willing to significantly recalibrate America’s traditional posture in the region. Trump argued that Gaza is no longer fit for human habitation after Hamas turned it into a de facto military bunker. He also argued that its residents would continue to suffer if they stayed there.
“It doesn’t have to be one area, but you take certain areas and you build really good quality housing, like a beautiful town, like some place where they can live and not die, because Gaza is a guarantee that they’re going to end up dying,” Trump said of his resettlement plans.
The press conference followed a day of talks between Netanyahu and Trump’s senior aides, including national security adviser Mike Waltz and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff. The discussions revolved primarily around the second phase of a delicate three-tiered ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.
Israel recently prepared for talks on that phase, which would see Hamas release the remaining living hostages and Israel withdraw from Gaza. Netanyahu confirmed Tuesday evening that a delegation will be sent to Doha in the coming days.
“I support getting all the hostages out and meeting all our war goals that include destroying Hamas’s military and governing capabilities and making sure that Gaza never poses a threat to Israel,” Netanyahu said in response to questions about his country’s willingness to remove all forces from Gaza under the deal.
Earlier in the day, Waltz and Witkoff said it would be impossible to permit Gazan refugees back into the territory within a five-year window, the timeframe provided under the ceasefire framework. A rebuild, Waltz said, would take “10, 15 years, not the five years, so that’s what we have to work through.”
“At some point, we have to look realistically—how do you rebuild Gaza?” Waltz asked in comments that came hours before Trump’s call to “take over” the strip.
Before Trump’s return to the White House, President Joe Biden floated a peace plan that would have empowered the Palestinian Authority—which pays tens of millions of dollars per year to terrorists killed or captured while carrying out Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack and the resulting war—to police the strip. In addition to its “pay for slay” policy, the Palestinian government also maintains a security force filled with members who routinely carry out attacks against Israelis.
Netanyahu landed in Washington, D.C., on Sunday and was originally scheduled to depart Tuesday, though he extended his trip through the week to meet with leaders in Congress. In addition to Gazan resettlement plans, Netanyahu discussed a Saudi Arabian normalization deal with the White House on Tuesday.
Trump spoke earlier in the week with Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and slated to hold a White House meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah next week. It is expected the president will raise the issue of resettling Gazans within their borders.
