Several countries appear to have been rejecting President Donald Trump's proposal that the United States will “take over” the Gaza Strip and permanently resettle its Palestinian residents.
Trump's suggestion came at a White House news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who smiled several times as the president detailed a plan to build new settlements for Palestinians outside the Gaza Strip.
“The US will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too,” Trump 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.”
However, his response was not well taken by leaders of several countries.
Here's how world leaders reacted to Trump's comment.
UK foreign secretary David Lammy said that Palestinians should be able to “live and prosper in their homelands”.
"We must see Palestinians able to live and prosper in their homelands in Gaza, in the West Bank. That is what we want to get to," Lammy said at a conference in Ukraine's capital Kyiv, according to AFP.
{{/usCountry}}"We must see Palestinians able to live and prosper in their homelands in Gaza, in the West Bank. That is what we want to get to," Lammy said at a conference in Ukraine's capital Kyiv, according to AFP.
{{/usCountry}}The British foreign secretary said that the UK would eventually play its part in reconstructing Gaza, most of which has been razed to the ground, alongside the Palestinian authorities and Gulf and Arab partners.
German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock categorically said that Gaza “belongs to the Palestinians” and said that the civilian population of Gaza must not be expelled.
"The civilian population of Gaza must not be expelled and Gaza must not be permanently occupied or repopulated," Baerbock said in a statement. "It is clear that Gaza -- like the West Bank and east Jerusalem -- belongs to the Palestinians. They form the basis for a future Palestinian state."
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Trump's proposal to resettle Palestinians elsewhere and take over war-ravaged Gaza "makes no sense", reported Reuters.
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"Where would Palestinians live? This is something incomprehensible to any human being," Lula said in an interview with local radio stations. "Palestinians are the ones who need to take care of Gaza," he added.
France said that any forceful displacement of the Palestinian population would constitute a serious violation of international law.
"France reiterates its opposition to any forced displacement of the Palestinian population of Gaza, which would constitute a serious violation of international law, an attack on the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinians, but also a major obstacle to the two-state solution and a major destabilising factor for our close partners Egypt and Jordan as well as for the entire region," France's foreign ministry spokesperson Christophie Lemoine was quoted as saying by Reuters.
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Russia said that it believes a settlement in the Middle East is only possible on the basis of a two-state solution.
"This is the thesis that is enshrined in the relevant U.N. Security Council resolution, this is the thesis that is shared by the overwhelming majority of countries involved in this problem. We proceed from it, we support it and believe that this is the only possible option," a Kremlin spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, Palestinian militant group Hamas condemned Trump's proposal to "take over" and "own" Gaza, saying it will fan the flames of Middle East violence.
"Our Palestinian people... will not allow any state in the world to occupy our land or impose guardianship on our great Palestinian people who have offered rivers of blood to liberate our land from occupation and to establish our state with Jerusalem as its capital," it said in a statement.