International reaction pours in to Trump’s proposal to ‘take over’ Gaza

(LONDON) — Several international leaders and U.S. allies condemned President Donald Trump’s stunning proposal suggesting the U.S. would “take over” the Gaza Strip, with many singularly rejecting Trump’s statement and raising the question of whether it could be a serious violation of international law.

Trump on Tuesday said the U.S. could “level the site” and rebuild the sovereign territory — after earlier saying Palestinians living there should leave.

“They instead can occupy all of a beautiful area with homes and safety, and they can live out their lives in peace and harmony” in other areas or countries, Trump said Tuesday night during a news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington, D.C.

“The U.S. 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,” he added.

The White House defended Trump’s proposal as “bold, fresh, new ideas.”

“The fact that nobody has a realistic solution, and he puts some very bold, fresh, new ideas out on the table, I don’t think should be criticized in any way. I think it’s going to bring the entire region to come with their own solutions, if they don’t like Mr. Trump’s solutions,” National Security Adviser Mike Waltz told “CBS Mornings” on Wednesday.

Trump has not committed to putting American troops on the ground in Gaza, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday. “The president has not committed to putting boots on the ground in Gaza. He has also said that the United States is not going to pay for the rebuilding of Gaza. His administration is going to work with our partners [in] the region to reconstruct this region,” she said.

“I can confirm that the president is committed to rebuilding Gaza and to temporarily relocating those who are there, because, as I’ve showed you repeatedly, it is a demolition site,” she later said.

International reaction to Trump’s proposal came in swiftly on Wednesday.

Arab nations

Saudi Arabia issued a statement repeating what it has said in the past, that the kingdom would not establish relations with Israel without the creation of a Palestinian state — even though Netanyahu said he thought normalization with the Gulf kingdom was “going to happen.”

“Saudi Arabia will continue its relentless efforts to establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and will not establish diplomatic relations with Israel without that,” the Saudi Foreign Ministry said.

Saudi Arabi reaffirmed its “unequivocal rejection” to attempts to displace Palestinians from their land, adding that its position to the Palestinians is “non-negotiable and not subject to compromises.”

Trump last month suggested Jordan and Egypt should take in Palestinians in order to “clean out” Gaza, something both Jordan’s king and Egypt’s president have fiercely opposed.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty on Wednesday called for swift reconstruction of Gaza without displacing Palestinians and for the Palestinian Authority to govern the territory.

In talks with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa in Cairo, the two leaders agreed on “the importance of moving forward with early recovery projects and programs, removing rubble and providing humanitarian aid at an accelerated pace, without moving the Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip,” the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

While the statement did not directly address Trump’s surprise remarks, it marked Egypt’s first official response to the proposal.

Abdelatty stressed “Egypt’s support for the legitimate and inalienable rights of the Palestinian people,” emphasizing the need for a permanent, just solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the two-state solution and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

“His Majesty King Abdullah II stresses the need to put a stop to settlement expansion, expressing rejection of any attempts to annex land and displace the Palestinians,” the Royal Hashemite Court of Jordan wrote on X.

Meanwhile, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas offered a strong rebuke of Trump’s statements on Wednesday.

“We will not allow the rights of our people to be infringed upon, for which we have fought for many decades and made great sacrifices to achieve them,” Abbas said. “These calls represent a serious violation of international law, and peace and stability will not be achieved in the region, without the establishment of the Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, on the borders of June 4, 1967, on the basis of the two-state solution.”

Hamas, the terrorist organization that attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and which is not part of the Palestinian Authority, also condemned Trump and called on the president to retract his “irresponsible statements.”

“We call on the U.S. administration and Trump to retract the irresponsible statements that contradict international laws and the natural rights of our people,” Hamas said.

“We call on the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the United Nations to convene urgently to follow up on these dangerous statements. We condemn in the strongest terms and reject Trump’s statements aimed at the United States occupying the Gaza Strip and displacing our Palestinian people from it. We affirm that we, our Palestinian people and its living forces will not allow any country in the world to occupy our land or impose guardianship over our Palestinian people,” the group added.

Europe

Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Wednesday that Italy will look at Trump’s plan for Gaza, while adding that Rome remains in favor of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“It seems to me that as far as the evacuation of the civilian population from Gaza is concerned, the response of Jordan and Egypt has been negative, so it seems to me that it is a bit difficult (to implement the plan),” Tajani told the Italian Foreign Affairs Committees of the Lower House and Senate.

“I have said what the Italian position is, then we will see when there are concrete proposals. We are in favor of two peoples, two states. I have said that we are even ready to send Italian soldiers for a mission to reunify Gaza with the West Bank. The government has not changed its mind,” Tajani said.

The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterated its “opposition to any forced displacement of Gaza’s Palestinian population, which would constitute a serious violation of international law, an attack on the legitimate aspirations of Palestinians and also a major obstacle to the two-state solution and a factor of major destabilization for our close partners, Egypt and Jordan, and the whole region.”

“France will continue actively promoting the implementation of the two-state solution, which alone can guarantee long-term peace and security to Israelis and Palestinians,” the ministry said in a press release. “Gaza’s future must lie not in the prospect of control by a third State but in the framework of a future Palestinian State, under the aegis of the Palestinian Authority. Hamas must be disarmed and have no part in the territory’s governance. France will continue to express its opposition to settlement activity — which is contrary to international law — and to any hint of the unilateral annexation of the West Bank.”

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock issued a statement saying, in part, “A displacement of the Palestinian civilian population from Gaza would not only be unacceptable and in breach of international law. It would also lead to new suffering and new hatred. And so the G7, the European Union and the United Nations have repeatedly made clear from the beginning that Gaza’s civilian population must not be displaced and Gaza must not be permanently occupied or resettled. A solution must not be put in place without consulting the Palestinians. A negotiated two-state solution remains the only solution which will enable both Palestinians and Israelis to live in peace, security and dignity. This is also the clear stance taken by the Arab states in the region.”

Israel

Netanyahu, however, seemed supportive of the president’s proposal during the Tuesday press conference and, delivering remarks after Trump, praised the president for his “fresh ideas” to accomplish their goals, which he said included ensuring Gaza is not a threat to Israel.

“I believe, Mr. President, that your willingness to puncture conventional thinking, thinking that has failed time and time and time again, your willingness to think outside the box with fresh ideas will help us achieve all these goals,” Netanyahu said.

Benny Gantz, a former military chief and the top political rival of Netanyahu who resigned from Israel’s emergency government in June 2024, wrote on X that Trump’s statement “is further proof of the deep alliance between the United States and Israel.”

“President Trump has shown, and not for the first time, that he is a true friend of Israel and will continue to stand by it on issues important to strengthening its security,” Gantz said. “In his remarks, he presented creative, original and interesting thinking, which must be examined alongside the realization of the goals of the war, and giving priority to the return of all the abductees.”

An Israeli official told ABC News that Netanyahu’s visit with Trump in D.C. on Tuesday “exceeded all our expectations and dreams.”

ABC News’ Hugo Leenhardt, Ayat Al-Tawy, Nasser Atta, Jordana Miller, Phoebe Natanson, Kelsey Walsh, Michelle Stoddart and Justin Ryan Gomez contributed to this report.

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