President Donald Trump told reporters that Palestinians in Gaza have “no alternative” but to leave the Strip amid the Israel-Hamas war.
Large swaths of Gaza have been leveled by Israel’s strikes, which have also led to thousands of civilian deaths as the country seeks to completely eliminate terror groups like Hamas in retaliation for the Oct. 7 attack in which more than 1,000 in Israel were killed.
Trump invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House on Tuesday to further discuss a ceasefire deal and US support for Israel.
Trump spoke to reporters while signing various executive orders on Tuesday, including withdrawing the United States from the United Nations Human Rights Council, and he said Palestinians would “love” to be relocated out of Gaza.
“The Gaza thing has not worked. It’s never worked,” Trump said. “And I feel very differently about Gaza than a lot of people. I think they should get a good, fresh, beautiful piece of land and we get some people to put up the money to build it and make it nice and make it habitable and enjoyable.”
The president added that he doesn’t “know” how Palestinians could “want to stay” in Gaza, calling it a “pure demolition site” that is “unsafe” and “unsanitary.”
“I think if they had the opportunity [to leave], they’d love it,” Trump said. “If they had an alternative — they have no alternative right now. They’re there because they have no alternative. What do they have? It is a big pile of rubble.”
Earlier this week, Trump pushed countries like Egypt to accept more Palestinian refugees. He also echoed that call on Tuesday.
“I’d like Egypt to take people, and I’d like Jordan to take people,” he told press. “You’re talking about probably a million and a half people, we just clean out that whole thing.” Both Egypt and Jordan have adamantly refused to accept large numbers of Palestinians.
Watch above via Fox News.
