President Trump says US 'not forcing' Gaza reconstruction plan
President Trump said that he only "proposed", not "forced" the parties involved to carry out the relocation and reconstruction plan in the Gaza Strip.
The Jerusalem Post reported on February 22 that US President Donald Trump recently spoke out about Arab countries rejecting the idea of relocating Palestinians from the Gaza Strip for reconstruction.
"I told people about my plan, I think it will be effective. But I'm not forcing anyone to do it, I'm just making suggestions," Mr. Trump said.
In his comments, President Trump also expressed surprise that Egypt and Jordan rejected the relocation of Palestinians from Gaza. "I was a little surprised that they refused. The United States still gives billions of dollars in aid every year to Cairo and Amman," Mr. Trump said.
Not long ago, Mr. Trump proposed that Jordan and Egypt accept more Palestinian refugees, and shared his plan to turn Gaza into a "Middle Eastern Riviera."
"Simply put, the Gaza Strip is a ruin, uninhabitable. If the people here had a choice, I think they would want to live in better settlements. But we'll see what happens," Mr. Trump shared.
Asked about the status of the Gaza ceasefire, Trump expressed his displeasure at Hamas's hostage release. The US president stressed that he understood Israel's "anger" and would support Tel Aviv's top goal, whether it was rescuing the hostages or destroying Hamas.
On the same day, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that Hamas would be "destroyed" if it did not release all hostages in Gaza.