Top US officials have walked back President Donald Trump’s “idea” of America taking control of a depopulated Gaza Strip, but Arab states remain fearful and are expected to assume the worst about his call to displace Palestinians from the territory.
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Trump’s proposal for the US to oversee Gaza was firmly rejected by Saudi Arabia and Washington’s other top Arab allies on Wednesday.
US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz said Trump’s call to “permanently” resettle most of Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinian residents, because the Israel-Gaza war had rendered the territory unliveable, was meant to spur regional states into presenting alternative proposals about the future of the territory.
“The fact that nobody has a realistic solution, and he [Trump] puts some very bold, fresh new ideas out on the table, I don’t think should be criticised in any way,” Waltz told US broadcaster CBS on Wednesday.
“I think it’s going to bring the entire region to come up with their own solutions,” he said.
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However, Trump’s remarks – made in the presence of visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – prompted an instant response from Saudi Arabia’s foreign affairs ministry, which affirmed the kingdom’s “firm, steadfast and unwavering position” on the establishment of the Palestinian state.