Donald Trump suggests Palestinians should move to 'fresh piece of land' ahead of talks with Netanyahu
Donald Trump suggests Palestinians should move to 'fresh piece of land' ahead of talks with Netanyahu
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US president Donald Trump on Tuesday repeated a suggestion for Palestinians displaced by the war in Gaza to move to Jordan or Egypt ahead of a meeting with Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House. Speaking ahead of the meeting with Mr Netanyahu - the first visit to the White House by a foreign leader since his inauguration - Trump said: “The Gaza thing has never worked". The idea has already been rejected by both Jordan and Egypt, as well as other Arab countries.
Trump told reporters. "If we could find the right piece of land, pieces of land, and build them some really nice places ... I think that would be a lot better than going back to Gaza.". Under the temporary truce deal agreed by Israel and Hamas, Gaza would be reconstructed on a three-to-five-year timeline. But Mr Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, said on Tuesday he believed that was not feasible, telling reporters: "To me, it is unfair to explain to Palestinians that they might be back in five years. That's just preposterous.".
The comments came as the US president was hosting Netanyahu at the White House to discuss the future of the ceasefire. As Mr Netanyahu arrived at the White House, Trump greeted him at the doors and the two leaders smiled for photographs. The Israeli prime minister is facing pressure from his right-wing coalition to end a temporary truce against Hamas militants in Gaza, but also from war-weary Israelis who want the remaining hostages home and for the 15-month conflict to end.
The leaders' talks are expected to touch on a long-sought Israel-Saudi Arabia normalisation deal and concerns about Iran's nuclear program, but hammering out the second phase of the hostage deal will be at the top of the agenda. Mr Netanyahu’s visit comes in the middle of testimony in an ongoing corruption trial that centres on allegations he exchanged favours with media moguls, which he denies. It is his first trip outside Israel since the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November for him, his former defence minister and Hamas' killed military chief, accusing them of crimes against humanity during the war in Gaza.
