President Trump suggested Thursday that the United States be in charge of Gaza and make it into a “freedom zone.”
“I have concepts for Gaza that I think are very good. Make it a freedom zone, let the United States get involved and make it just a freedom zone,” Mr. Trump said at a business roundtable in Qatar.
He said the U.S. is “working very hard on Gaza” and that it’s been “a territory of death and destruction for many years.”
Mr. Trump said he would be “proud to have the United States have it, take it, make it a freedom zone.”
“Let some good things happen. Put people in homes where they can be safe, and Hamas is going to have to be dealt with,” he said.
Mr. Trump’s plans for a revitalized Gaza were revealed earlier this year when he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, saying it could be the “Riviera of the Middle East.”
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He has suggested that Palestinians be moved to other countries while the Gaza Strip is rebuilt, but the countries that he suggested should take the refugees weren’t particularly open to the idea.
Israel and the terrorist group Hamas have been in a war since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Gaza has been destroyed as Israel fights against Hamas.
“There’s practically no buildings standing. It’s not like you’re trying to save something. There’s no buildings,” he said. “People are living under the rubble of buildings that collapsed, which is not acceptable.”
