Trump’s Proposal to “Cleanse” Gaza Stuns All Sides and Complicates ME Diplomacy

The Wall Street Journal published a report by journalists Michael Gordon and Alexander Ward discussing Trump’s proposal to relocate Gaza’s residents.

The report revealed that former President Trump’s Saturday night suggestion to evacuate Palestinians from war-torn Gaza marked a stark departure from his predecessors and introduced a controversial new element into his Middle East diplomacy strategies.

Trump suggested that relocating Palestinians from Gaza could be either “temporary or long-term.”

The report notes that this statement represents a dramatic shift in U.S. policy toward Palestinians. Historically, U.S. presidents from both parties have refrained from proposing long-term displacement of Palestinians. Most American presidents regarded Gaza as a future component of the Palestinian state.

“It’s literally a demolition site now,” Trump said. “So, I’d like to engage with some Arab nations and build housing in a different location where they might be able to live in peace instead.”

Officials in the Trump administration proposed that the U.S. and regional partners could offer guarantees that Palestinians would eventually be allowed to return. This assurance seemed designed to make the idea more politically palatable for Arab states.

However, the proposal’s specifics remain unclear, including how over 2 million Palestinians could be relocated from Gaza and whether they would ultimately realize their aspirations for self-governance.

Trump remarked, “You’re talking about a million and a half people, and we’re just going to clean this thing up entirely. You know, throughout history, many conflicts have been resolved this way. Something has to happen.”

The proposal was immediately rejected by Jordan, which Trump urged to accept Gaza refugees temporarily or permanently, as well as by the Palestinian Authority, which governs much of the West Bank, and Hamas.

Hamas issued a statement saying, “We call on the U.S. administration to stop such proposals that align with Israeli plans and contradict the rights and will of our people.”

However, the idea was welcomed by far-right Israeli politician Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has previously called for the “voluntary migration” of Palestinians from Gaza and supported Israeli settlements in the region.

Trump did not outline a clear roadmap for securing peace in Gaza, should the 42-day ceasefire be extended. Instead, he focused on advancing normalized diplomatic relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

The report noted that “Trump’s foray into Middle East peacemaking comes at a critical moment when the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon appears increasingly fragile. Special envoy Steve Witkoff is planning to return to the region.”

Jon Alterman from the Center for Strategic and International Studies commented, “It’s an intriguing opening gambit, but it’s hard to imagine it gaining much traction as an idea.”

He added, “This proposal would deeply unsettle Egypt, Jordan, their Gulf allies, and European governments invested in stability in Egypt and Jordan and supportive of Palestinian rights.”

The report pointed out that the brutal war in Gaza, triggered by Hamas’s attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, presented Washington with an urgent foreign policy challenge, one Trump suggested might fall outside U.S. responsibility to resolve.

Last week, Trump admitted he wasn’t confident that the ceasefire could hold. “This isn’t our war; it’s theirs,” he told reporters.

Nevertheless, he claimed credit for the initial Gaza ceasefire, which involved exchanging 33 hostages held by Hamas for roughly 1,900 Palestinian prisoners. Even former officials from the Biden administration acknowledged Trump and Witkoff’s role in brokering the long-awaited deal.

However, negotiating a permanent resolution to the Gaza conflict remains an immense challenge for Trump and his team.

During his final days as Biden’s Secretary of State, Antony Blinken advocated for a post-war plan to end Israel’s military presence in Gaza and establish a new governance structure led by the Palestinian Authority, reformed and expanded to include control beyond the West Bank. An Arab security force, supported by American advisers, was proposed to oversee Gaza, though no American troops would be deployed.

Such a plan would facilitate large-scale Gaza reconstruction and pave the way for the ultimate normalization of Israeli-Saudi relations. Blinken stated during a recent Atlantic Council appearance: “The urgency of ending the war in Gaza and finding a credible path to Palestinian statehood is critical for Riyadh’s push for normalization.”

Trump’s proposal to remove Palestinians from Gaza to rebuild the area would disrupt this carefully crafted diplomatic plan and cast doubt on whether Palestinians could establish their own state.

The president revealed that he informed Jordan’s King Abdullah II during a Saturday phone call that he wanted Jordan to host Palestinian refugees. He planned to make a similar request to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in an upcoming call.

When asked about Trump’s plan, administration officials described Gaza as a barren wasteland filled with rubble and unexploded munitions. They argued that reconstruction would be greatly facilitated if residents left the area.

A senior Trump administration official stated, “You can’t ask people to remain in an uninhabitable place for political reasons.” He added that Palestinians might receive guarantees of their eventual return after negotiations with regional partners.

Gordon Sondland, Trump’s former ambassador to the European Union, commented in an interview that plans to modernize infrastructure in the region were considered during negotiations for the Abraham Accords. He described Trump’s proposal as “a great idea” if “strong guarantees” for Palestinian return were in place.

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) dismissed the proposal on CNN’s State of the Union, saying, “The idea that all Palestinians would leave and go elsewhere—I don’t see that as very practical.”

The report highlighted that Egypt and Jordan have long rejected such ideas due to security concerns and the economic burden of hosting large numbers of Palestinians. Both countries fear being accused of enabling Israel’s annexation of Gaza if Palestinians are prevented from returning.

Frank Lowenstein, a former U.S. State Department negotiator on Israeli-Palestinian issues, remarked, “Encouraging the ‘voluntary migration’ of Gaza’s civilians has long been a fantasy of Israel’s most extreme hardliners.”

Among them is Ben-Gvir, who resigned as Israel’s national security minister over the Gaza ceasefire agreement. He praised Trump’s plan and urged Netanyahu to support it.

Former officials noted that the Israeli far-right’s endorsement of Trump’s proposal made garnering Arab support for the initiative more challenging.

A senior former U.S. official concluded, “The idea of Egypt or Jordan accepting large numbers of Palestinians from Gaza is out of the question. These have been red lines for both countries before the Gaza crisis, and they remain even more so now.”