Donald Trump Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff defended the president’s comments about the United States ‘taking over’ the Gaza Strip — possibly with the help of the military —and that the nearly 2 million Palestinians who live there should leave.
“Gaza today is uninhabitable and will probably be uninhabitable for at least the next 10 to 15 years,” Witkoff told Fox News host Sean Hannity on Tuesday in a clip highlighted by Mediaite.
“I think everybody wants to see peace in the region and peace in the region means a better life for the Palestinians,” he added. “A better life is not necessarily tied to the physical space that you’re in today. A better life is about a better opportunity, better financial conditions, better aspirations for you and your family. That doesn’t occur because you get to pitch a tent in the Gaza Strip.”
Witkoff argued that by removing Palestinians from their land Trump is giving them “more hope” because they would have the opportunity to choose a better place to live.
At a White House news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday Trump detailed a plan to build new settlements for Palestinians outside the Gaza Strip, and for the U.S. to take “ownership” in redeveloping Gaza into “the Riviera of the Middle East.”
“The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too,” Trump said. “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, create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs.”
Trump’s comments earned swift condemnation from Arab nations in the region and American allies.
