US President Donald Trump said he doesn’t believe Palestinians should return to Gaza because it is a “guarantee that they’re going to end up dying” – as he held a White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Speaking after welcoming Mr Netanyahu to the Oval Office, President Trump doubled down on his suggestion that Gazans should be relocated elsewhere.
Mr Trump, who has taken credit for helping broker a tenuous ceasefire deal in Gaza, said a “beautiful area” could be built for Gazans to resettle in after 15 months of relentless Israeli bombing reduced much of the besieged enclave to rubble.
The 78-year-old president said he believed all Gazans should move, saying: “They would be resettled where they can live a beautiful life.”
The war in Gaza, triggered by its militant group Hamas carrying out a massacre of 1,200 people and taking some 250 hostage during the 7 October 2023 attacks on Israel, has temporarily stopped since the long-sought ceasefire deal came into effect on 19 January.
More than 47,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Hamas’s attack, according to local authorities.
Asked during a press briefing if Palestinians would have the right to return to Gaza if they left while it was being rebuilt, Mr Trump said: “Why would they want to return? The place has been hell. It’s been one of the meanest, toughest places on earth.”
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Mr Netanyahu, the first world leader to meet Mr Trump since the pro-Israel president’s return to the White House after he was sworn in on 20 January, sat beside the Republican as he answered questions from the press.
Mr Trump reiterated his earlier suggestion on 25 January that Palestinians from Gaza could be relocated to Egypt and Jordan – something both countries, other Arab nations and Palestinian leaders have rejected.
He went on to say Palestinians in Gaza could go to other countries beyond Jordan and Egypt as well.
Asked whether he thought Jordan and Egypt would accept the proposal, Mr Trump said he believed they will.
On the likelihood of getting a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, Mr Trump said: “We are dealing with a lot of people, and we have steps to go yet, as you know, and maybe those steps go forward, and maybe they don’t.
“We’re dealing with a very complex group of people, situation and people, but we have the right man. We have the right leader of Israel. He’s done a great job.”
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Mr Trump was also asked whether he should get the Nobel Peace Prize.
He said: “They will never give me a nobel peace prize. It’s too bad. I deserve it, but they will never give it to me.”
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