Hamas leaders say Trump’s comments ‘recipe for generating chaos’ and reigniting tensions. Mr Trump’s comments came in a meeting with Israeli president Benjamin Netanyahu – the first in-person visit by a foreign leader since his return to office. Mr Trump said he wants the United States to "take over" and redevelop the Gaza Strip which is now a "demolition site" that no-one would want to live in.

"We're going to take over that piece, we're going to develop it, create thousands and thousands of jobs and it'll be something the entire Middle East can be very proud of,” he said. He added that he was confident that his allies Egypt, Jordan, and other nations would "open their hearts and will give us the kind of land that we need to get this done ". In a press conference on Wednesday, Mr Albanese said he doesn’t do “running commentary” when asked about the US president’s comments but said they stand firm on their policy.

"[What] I would say is that Australia's position is the same as it was this morning, as it was last year, and it was 10 years ago, and it was under the Howard government,” Mr Albanese said. He added that the government supports a two-state solution in Gaza which envisages Israeli and Palestinian states alongside each other. "What we have said, though, clearly, we've supported a ceasefire. We've supported hostages being released. And we've supported aid getting into Gaza,” he said.

Saudi Arabia was more scathing in its condemnation of any attempts to displace Palestinians, noting their long call for an independent Palestinian state was a "firm, steadfast and unwavering position". “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia also reaffirms its unequivocal rejection to any infringement on the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people whether through Israeli settlement policies, land annexation, or attempts to displace Palestinian people from their land,” the foreign minister said.

"The duty of the international community today is to work to alleviate the severe human suffering endured by the Palestinian people, who will remain committed to their land and will not budge from it," it added. It said Riyadh will not normalise diplomatic relations with Israel without the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital. A senior Hamas official condemned Mr Trump’s remarks as “ridiculous and absurd” that can “ignite” the region again.

The call for Gazans to leave is "expulsion from their land", Sami Abu Zuhri said, adding, "We consider them (the plans) a recipe for generating chaos and tension in the region because the people of Gaza will not allow such plans to pass.". Mr Trump, who has been laying the groundwork for his proposal since last week, saw his suggestions already being rejected by Palestinian leaders and leaders of the Arab world while being condemned by human rights advocates as amounting to a proposal of ethnic cleansing.

Reactions from the Democratic politicians in the US were swift and sharply worded, suggesting it could be Mr Trump’s effort to deflect attention away from the US Treasury payments system. Palestinian American congresswoman Rashida Tlaib accused Mr Trump of “ethnic cleansing” with his suggestion of taking over Gaza. Democratic congresswoman Rashida 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.". She had been critical of former US president Joe Biden's handling of the Israel-Hamas conflict as he poured millions of dollars and weapons to support Mr Netanyahu’s war in Gaza. Democratic senator Chris Murphy lashed out at the president, calling his suggestion a “bad, sick joke”.

“He’s totally lost it. A US invasion of Gaza would lead to the slaughter of thousands of US troops and decades of war in the Middle East. It’s like a bad, sick joke,” he said on X. He said it is to draw attention away from "the real story". "I have news for you - we aren’t taking over Gaza,” he said. "But the media and the chattering class will focus on it for a few days and Trump will have succeeded in distracting everyone from the real story – the billionaires seizing government to steal from regular people.".

Democratic representative Jake Auchincloss called the proposal “reckless and unreasonable” in an interview with NewsNation and warned that it could jeopardise the second phase of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. “We have to look at Trump’s motives,” he said. “As always, when Trump proposes a policy item, there is a nepotistic, self-serving connection,” he said. Referring to Mr Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, he added, “They want to turn this into resorts”.