Trump reiterates plan to remove Palestinians from Gaza following Netanyahu meeting at White House

On Tuesday Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu became the first foreign leader to meet Donald Trump in The White House during his second term. The meeting took place amid ongoing ceasefire negotiations between the Israeli government and Hamas.

Speaking with reporters after the meeting, Trump made the stunning announcement that the United States would try to take over Gaza.

“The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it, too,” he said. “We’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site. Level the site and get rid of the destroyed buildings. Level it out.”

“Create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area,” he continued. “Do a real job. Do something different.”

Netanyahu arrived in Washington on Monday, which was supposed to be the deadline for beginning talks on the next phase of the ceasefire. The Prime Minister’s office did not make it clear when his team would engage with Hamas but said the “second phase of the hostage deal will begin” with the Trump meeting.

Just a day before the meeting, referencing the ceasefire, Trump told reporters “I have no guarantees that the peace is going to hold.” His special Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff added that the administration is “certainly hopeful” about the deal.

At a press conference after the meeting, Trump told reporters “everyone’s demanding one thing, you know what that is, peace.”

“We’re dealing with a very complex group of people, situation and people, but we have the right man,” he added. “We have the right leader of Israel. He’s done a great job, and we’ve been friends for a long time.”

Prior to his White House visit, Netanyahu announced that he would be discussing Israel’s “victory over Hamas” with Trump, despite the fact that Hamas currently still controls Gaza and has said it will not release further hostages until Israeli forces withdraw from the region.

A Trump official told CNN that the president was “extremely focused” on removing Hamas from power.

“President Trump looks at the Gaza Strip and sees it as a demolition site,” said the official. “He sees it as impractical to rebuild the region within three to five years and believes it will take at least 10 to 15 years to restore it to a livable condition. It’s inhumane to force people to live on land filled with unexploded ordnance and rubble.”

When asked about his commitment to bringing home more Israeli hostages after the meeting Netanyahu replied, “I support getting all the hostages out and meeting all our war goals. That includes destroying Hamas’s military and governing capabilities and making sure that Gaza never poses a threat to Israel.”

Trump doubles down on suggestion to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from Gaza

While the ceasefire talks remain delicate, Trump has embraced a number of pro-Israel policies in recent days. A Wall Street Journal report revealed that his administration will ask Congress for $1 billion in weapons for Israel. The President also signed an executive order to withdraw the U.S. from United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).

Trump has also repeatedly referenced the idea of ethnically cleansing Gaza, which he revisited during his comments to the media on Tuesday. “Gaza maybe is a demolition site right now … you can’t live in Gaza right now. I think we need another location,” said Trump. “It would be my hope that we could do something really nice, really good, where they wouldn’t want to return. Why would they want to return? The place has been hell.”

A reporter could be heard yelling, “Because it’s their home, sir!”

Zeteo News reporter Prem Thakker shared a video clip of the exchange on Twitter.

“One of those clips where you have to make sure you’re not hallucinating,” Thakker wrote. “Donald Trump says Palestinians ought not be allowed to return to Gaza because “why would they want to return? That place has been hell” — next to the grinning man who made it hell.”

Confrontation with Iran take center stage

Leading up to the meeting Netanyahu also announced that he would speak to Trump about confronting Iran, which has been a longtime focus of the Israeli government.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have been publicly pushing for such action in recent days.

Last week congress members introduced a resolution calling for the United States and its allies to keep “all options” on the table in order to contain the “credible threat” of Iran’s nuclear program. The effort was led by Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC), John Fetterman (D-PA) and Katie Britt (R-AL) in the Senate and Reps. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) and Mike Lawler (R-NY) in the House.

“The Israelis are going to have to make a decision relatively soon [on] what to do about the Iran nuclear program,” Graham told Fox News Sunday.

“I am here to tell you and the audience in the world that I think America should support an effort by Israel if they decide to decimate the Iranian nuclear program because I think it’s a threat to mankind,” he continued. “Israel is strong. Iran is weak. Hezbollah, Hamas have been decimated. They’re not finished off, but they’ve been weakened. And there’s an opportunity to hit the Iran nuclear program in a fashion I haven’t seen in decades.”

In an interview with Mondoweiss last month Center for International Policy Senior Fellow Sina Toossi expressed skepticism about the idea of a weakened Iran.

“I think this is a big misinterpretation of the actual situation. Iran hit Israel twice in the past year with missile attacks,” said Toossi. “There’s the Fog of War and a lot of debate about how effective they actually were. Israel knows but they aren’t sharing that intelligence with anyone. We do know that those missile attacks, in April and in October, did circumvent the multilayered, very sophisticated air defense that Israel has. They hit targets despite Iron Dome. Even if we say they didn’t hit exactly what they were trying to hit, they hit the country.”

Netanyahu’s arrival in DC was met with protests and calls for him to be arrested, as there is an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant out for him over war crimes in Gaza. The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) sent a submission to the Department of Justice’s (DPJ) Human Rights and Special Prosecution Section on behalf of Palestinian Americans, calling for the DOJ to proceed with an investigation and prosecution of the Prime Minister.

“Instead of meeting its obligations to investigate and prosecute Benjamin Netanyahu for genocide, torture, and war crimes, the United States is welcoming the man responsible for the 15-month genocidal campaign against Palestinians in Gaza with open arms and promises of even more weapons,” said CRR staff attorney and ICC Legal Representative for Victims in the Situation in the State of Palestine Katherine Gallagher in a statement.

“The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu for his role in the mass murder, starvation, denial of access to food, water, and medicine, and persecution of Palestinians in Gaza,” she continued. “The U.S. should move toward prosecuting Netanyahu now or surrender him to the ICC, not further prop him up and bolster his sense of impunity.”