Why Trump said US should ‘take over Gaza’, how it echoes Palestine’s history: Full picture in 5 points

The US has long supported a two-state solution, where Israel and Palestine are two sovereign countries. On the ground, however, much of Palestine is occupied by Israel, which does not recognise a State of Palestine.

Trump’s latest comments are in line with his outlandish claims about buying Greenland, making Canada the 51st state of the US, etc. However, for Palestinians, they revive painful history — when another Western power wrote their destiny and they lost their homeland.

What is behind Trump’s increasingly unorthodox positions? How have world leaders, including US allies, reacted to the Gaza idea? What part of Palestine’s history does this episode echo? We explain in 5 points.

1. 01

   What exactly has Trump said?

   A lot of things. According to American media outlet CBS News, Trump said, “The US will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it, too. 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. Do a real job. Do something different.”

   On whether the US army would be sent to achieve all this, Trump said, “If it's necessary, we'll do that.”

   When asked who would live in the new Gaza, Trump said, “I envision world people living there, the world's people... representatives from all over the world, Palestinians also.”

   He said Palestinians would not want to go back to Gaza, as they only “end up dying there”.

2. 02

   How has the world reacted?

   While Trump told reporters that “everybody I’ve spoken to loves the idea of the United States owning that piece of land,” this was not evident as reactions poured in (compiled by Reuters).

   Saudi Arabia, a key US ally in the region, said in a statement that its position of wanting an independent Palestine was “firm, steadfast and unwavering.” It added, “The kingdom of Saudi Arabia also stresses what it had previously announced regarding its absolute rejection of infringement on the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, whether through Israeli settlement policies, annexation of Palestinian lands or efforts to displace the Palestinian people from their land.”

   Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese too backed the two-state solution. “Australia’s position is the same as it was this morning, as it was last year, as it was 10 years ago,” he said.

   China said the same. “China has always believed that Palestinian rule is the basic principle of post-war governance in Gaza,” said spokesperson Lin Jian.

   Hamas, which controls Gaza, said Trump’s proposal was a “recipe for creating chaos and tension in the region.”

   Netanyahu, however, backed Trump, saying, “After the jaws drop, people scratch their heads and they say, 'You know, he's right'.”

3. 03

   Why is Trump doing this?

   According to the UN, “international law prohibits any form of forced displacement”, which in a way is what Trump is proposing for Gaza.

   Increasingly, many are calling Trump's positions “imperialist”, where one powerful country decides to ignore the sovereign rights of other countries in advancing its interests. Trump's ideas of taking over Greenland from Denmark forcibly, renaming the Gulf of Mexico, “annexing” Canada, and now Gaza, are all based on assuming the US can do what it wants with other, independent countries. Also, he has repeatedly said that Egypt and Jordan will take in refugees from Palestine, when both countries have repeatedly said they have no intention of doing so, as they believe Palestinians belong in their own land.

   Others, however, think this is a negotiating tactic from Trump, where you open with a wild position and bargain down from there. Will Wechsler, senior director of Middle East programs at the Atlantic Council, told Reuters, “President Trump is following his regular playbook: shift the goalposts to increase his leverage in anticipation of a negotiation to come. In this case it’s a negotiation about the future of the Palestinian Authority.”

4. 04

   And what does all of this mean for Palestinians?

   An experience woven into Palestinian identity is that of 'nakba', or catastrophe, which is how they refer to their forced displacement in 1948 after Israel's creation. For years, many Palestinians carried keys of homes they left but could never come back to, as a symbol of the nakba.

   Back then, it was the United Kingdom that had decided their fate. A Jewish homeland in what was Palestinian territory under the Ottoman Empire — though Jews had ancient, Biblical claims to that land — was promised by Britain in 1917. Britain wanted the Jews' support in World War I, and to get that, Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour, in a letter to Zionist leader Baron Lionel Walter Rothschild, pledged support for the Israeli cause.

   Then, after the Ottoman Empire was defeated in World War I, its erstwhile domains were divided among the Allies, and Palestine fell under the British mandate. When Britain withdrew in 1947, it took the Palestinian issue to the UN, and Israel was created.