Donald Trump has proposed the US “take over” Gaza and “level it” after meeting Israel’s prime minister. Allies and adversaries have condemned the plan, which would be a violation of international law. Listen to our experts assess the plan on the Trump 100 podcast as you scroll.
Wednesday 5 February 2025 09:26, UK
After Trump’s shock proposal that the US “take over” Gaza, many countries have reaffirmed their commitment to a two-state solution – like the UK in our previous post.
But what is it?
The two-state solution long been proposed as the best hope for peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It would see an independent Palestinian state established alongside the existing one of Israel – giving both peoples their own territory.
It is the official position of the UK, US and the United Nations.
What would it look like – and who would live where?
The biggest obstacle to a two-state solution is deciding what the borders of a potential Palestinian state would be.
Many believe they should be the same ones that existed before the 1967 Six-Day War, which saw Israel occupy East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza.
Since then, increasing numbers of Israeli settlements have been established inside the West Bank, with around 600,000 Israelis now living there and in Occupied East Jerusalem.
Although these settlements are considered illegal under international law, their existence makes the territory increasingly difficult to designate as Palestinian.
The creation of Israel and the subsequent Arab-Israeli war of 1948 saw many Palestinians forced from their homes, in what is known as the Nakba, or “catastrophe” in English.
As such, the UN gave around 750,000 people refugee status, defined as people “whose normal place of residence was Palestine during the period 1 June 1946 to 15 May 1948, and who lost both home and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 conflict”.
But under the same criteria, 5.9 million Palestinians – who live in the West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem and in camps across Jordan, Lebanon and Syria – now qualify, and many would want to return to their homeland.
There would not be space for this increased number of people inside the occupied territories, meaning some would have to be resettled in Israeli territory, which Israel is unlikely to tolerate.
There are particular border difficulties with Jerusalem.
Both sides claim the ancient city as their capital. This is because of its huge historical and religious significance for both Israelis and Palestinians and the fact it is home to several holy sites in Judaism, Islam, and Christianity.
Palestinians should be able to return to their homes and “rebuild their shattered lives” in Gaza – that’s the view of the UK government, according to the environment secretary Steve Reed, who has told us peace can “only be based on a two-state solution”.
Speaking to our chief presenter Kay Burley, he said Palestinians have faced “a living nightmare for the last 14 months” and should be able to start rebuilding their homes with the help of the international community.
The UK government wants to reach “a long-lasting peace” in the region, he continued, which “can only be based on a two-state solution with a secure Israel living at peace with its neighbours, and a free and viable Palestinian side state alongside”.
Pushed for a specific response to Donald Trump’s comments, Reed said he won’t “provide a running commentary on the pronouncements of the president of the United States or any other world leader”.
He added, however, that he was not being disparaging of Trump in any way, and gave him credit for helping secure the current ceasefire.
The reaction to Trump’s Gaza plan from Palestinian authorities has been swift and unsurprising.
Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian UN ambassador, firmly rejected the resettlement proposals, saying: “Our homeland is our homeland.
“The Palestinian people selected the choice to return to it. We should be respecting the selections and the wishes of the Palestinian people,” he said in a video posted on X.
“They want to rebuild the schools, the hospitals, the roads, the infrastructure, the buildings and the homes because this is where they belong, and they love to live there.”
He added: “Those who want to send them to a happy nice place, let them go back to their original homes inside Israel.”
The Palestine Liberation Organisation, which is internationally recognised as the representative of the Palestinian people, reaffirmed its backing of the two-state solution.
Hussein Sheikh, its secretary general, said it was a solution that would guarantee “security, stability and peace”.
Does the key to understanding Donald Trump’s foreign policy lie in his New York business dealings in the 1970s? That’s what Richard and Yalda ask themselves on this week’s edition of The World podcast.
It comes after Trump posted this AI generated image of himself – with FAFO usually meaning “f*** around, find out”…
From tariffs to trade wars and a proposed slashing of the overseas aid budget, Richard and Yalda unpack another tumultuous week in which Trump threatens to rip up the old world order.
To get in touch or to share questions for Richard and Yalda, email theworld@sky.uk
Our US correspondent Mark Stone was in the room as Donald Trump unveiled his Gaza plan last night.
It was a “truly remarkable” news conference, he says, that raises an “extraordinary number of questions”.
Watch his reaction to Trump’s comments here…
By Alistair Bunkall, Middle East correspondent in Jerusalem
It would be wrong to dismiss Trump’s comments as “off the cuff”, as they so often are, because this is not the first time in recent days that he has proposed the removal of all Palestinians from Gaza.
It is an idea he has repeated and now embellished. An idea so egregious that it has left diplomats and politicians in the Middle East agog.
How would it even work? The forced displacement, (it certainly wouldn’t be willing) of two million people would be a clear breach of the Geneva Convention. It would be ethnic cleansing.
Gaza might be “hell”, as Trump says, but ask any Gazan and they will tell you it is their home, however hellish.
So many unanswered questions
Who would force Palestinians to leave? US troops down the barrel of a gun, pushed through a border into an unwilling Egypt or on to ships and then to where? Just imagine.
Are Western allies really going to comply? Most of them still cling on to the idea of a two-state solution.
It would require American soldiers on the ground in Gaza for well over a decade – will Congress authorise that? Unlikely.
And with what mandate? Gaza isn’t Israeli land to give. It isn’t American land to occupy. Trump cannot just “own” it, any more than he cannot own Greenland unless he wants to take it by force. Gaza is not a piece of New York real estate.
The US president either ignores or doesn’t understand moments of living history that many would rather forget – the Nakba, which saw hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced during the 1948 war and haunts them to this day, and America’s humiliating failure at nation-building in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Lifeline for embattled Netanyahu
But unrealistic or not, it is a political lifeline for Benjamin Netanyahu, who is under pressure to resume the fighting from the right-wing members of his coalition.
It is red meat to those extremist factions, who have long wanted to resettle Gaza and will now seize on this.
For a time at least, it will distract from any serious and practical discussion of what happens next in Gaza, who governs it, who actually rebuilds it etc. Discussion that is desperately overdue.
Unless this is all a deliberate distraction.
Trump’s suggestion wouldn’t just violate international law, it would violate his own long-held opposition to US wars in the Middle East and paying for other people’s problems.
It is hard to see how this fits into an “America First” agenda.
Is this all part of deal-making?
And so, I wonder whether there is something else in play here?
If there is one prize that Netanyahu and Trump want together, almost above all else, it is a normalisation deal with Saudi Arabia.
Riyadh has swiftly responded to Trump’s comments, hardening its position and insisting on Palestinian statehood in exchange for a deal. That’s not going to happen either.
And so, are these faux-lines of negotiation being drawn? Artificial problems being created to give the sides the spectre of something to climb down from?
Trump’s comments were so unexpected, so outrageous, so unrealistic, that they might just be part of something bigger. If not, if he really is serious, then there is trouble ahead. For everyone.
Donald Trump has been accused of “calling for ethnic cleansing” after proposing Gaza’s entire Palestinian population could be resettled in other parts of the Middle East.
Democrat Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian-American member of US Congress, said: “This president is openly calling for ethnic cleansing while sitting next to a genocidal war criminal.
“He’s perfectly fine cutting off working Americans from federal funds while the funding to the Israeli government continues flowing.”
The forced displacement of Gaza’s population would likely be a violation of international law.
It would be fiercely opposed not only in the Middle East but also by America’s Western allies.
Trump has also failed to offer any specifics on how a resettlement process could be implemented.
Some experts have said the idea echoes the wishes of Israel’s far right, with former Middle East adviser Aaron David Miller saying Trump’s comments had given Netanyahu a “huge pass”.
“He validated almost every right-wing fantasy in Israel,” he said.
Donald Trump’s proposal that the US “take over” Gaza and permanently resettle its Palestinian residents has swiftly rejected by American allies and adversaries.
The comments came amid a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, during which the militant group has been turning over hostages in exchange for the release of prisoners held by Israel.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stood alongside Trump as he made the comments, smiling as he set out his idea and saying the US president’s plan was “worth listening to”.
Egypt and Jordan have already rejected the idea of relocating more than 2 million Palestinians from Gaza elsewhere in the Middle East.
Saudi Arabia, an important American ally, reacted to Trump’s comments with a sharply worded statement, saying its call for an independent Palestinian state was a “firm, steadfast and unwavering position”.
Similarly, Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese told reporters his country has long supported a two-state solution in the Middle East and that nothing had changed.
New Zealand’s foreign ministry said its “long-standing support for a two-state solution is on the record” and added that it, too, “won’t be commenting on every proposal that is put forward”.
Hamas said Trump’s proposal was a “recipe for creating chaos and tension in the region”.
“Instead of holding the Zionist occupation accountable for the crime of genocide and displacement, it is being rewarded, not punished,” the militant group said in a statement.
In the US, opposition politicians quickly rejected Trump’s idea, with Democratic senator Chris Coons calling his comments “offensive and insane and dangerous and foolish”.
Welcome back to our live coverage of the early days of Donald Trump’s presidency – after he announced a shocking and significant shift in US policy in the Middle East in a late-night news conference with Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister.
Trump said America would “take over” Gaza and “level it” as he set out a long-term vision for the besieged enclave, which has been devastated by nearly 18 months of war between the Iran-backed Hamas militant group and Israel.
The proposal has been unanimously condemned around the world – we’ll bring you detailed reaction from Trump’s adversaries and allies shortly.
Without setting out the specifics of how the plan would be achieved, the US president said his country could do a “real job” of removing unexploded bombs from the territory and redeveloping it as the “Riviera of the Middle East”.
Watch: Trump calls for Gaza resettlement
He also proposed that the nearly two million displaced Palestinians be resettled outside Gaza, with a smiling Netanyahu saying Trump’s plan was “worth paying attention to”.
The shocking proposal came as the trade war between the US and China ramps up. Beijing hit back with retaliatory measures yesterday morning within minutes of Trump imposing a 10% tariff on all Chinese imports.
Beijing’s response including 15% tariffs on US coal and liquified natural gas and 10% on crude oil, farm equipment and some vehicles.
Trump had also threatened to tariffs against Canada and Mexico, but in last-minute deals with both countries he paused them for 30 days.
Stay with us as we bring you the latest developments, reaction and analysis throughout the day.
You can read our previous post for all the other major updates from yesterday.
We’re pausing our live coverage of the goings-on in the US, but we’ll be back with you bright and early tomorrow morning.
Before we return, here’s a quick recap of what’s been happening across the pond during the last 24 hours:
Trade war
Foreign policy
Domestic policy
Read more analysis and eyewitness reports from our team of correspondents and editors here:
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