US President Donald Trump only wants Palestinians to leave Gaza temporarily while the territory is reconstructed, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday.
Trump stunned the world and drew condemnation when he proposed Tuesday at a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the United States could take over war-battered Gaza.
Trump’s idea “was not meant as hostile. It was meant as, I think, a very generous move — the offer to rebuild and to be in charge of the rebuilding,” Rubio told reporters on a visit to Guatemala.
Trump offered a US “willingness to step in, clear the debris, clean the place up from all the destruction that’s on the ground, clean it up of all these unexploded munitions,” Rubio said.
“And in the meantime, the people living there will not be able to live there while you have crews coming in and removing debris,” he said.
Trump wants to support “rebuilding homes and businesses and things of this nature, so that then people can move back in,” he said.
Meanwhile, Karoline Leavitt told journalists at the White House on Wednesday that the president was committed to rebuilding Gaza and “temporarily” relocating its residents during the process.
Trump said on Tuesday the displacement would be permanent.
Leavitt also said the president had not committed to putting “boots on the ground” in the territory but declined to rule out the use of US troops there.
Her comments come after Trump proposed taking control of the Gaza Strip and redeveloping it into “the Riviera of the Middle East”.
“The US will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it too,” Trump said on Tuesday during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who called the idea “worth paying attention to”.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz also praised Trump’s proposal, adding that Gazans “should be allowed to enjoy freedom of exit and immigration” by land, sea or air.
He said countries like Spain, Ireland and Norway – critics of the war – “are legally obligated to allow every Gazan resident to enter their territory”.
He did not explain how the proposal would work – or whether Gazans would be able to return after reconstruction.
Spain’s foreign minister has rejected the suggestion.
MDW Live! News Network 
US President Donald Trump only wants Palestinians to leave Gaza temporarily while the territory is reconstructed, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday.
Trump stunned the world and drew condemnation when he proposed Tuesday at a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the United States could take over war-battered Gaza.
Trump’s idea “was not meant as hostile. It was meant as, I think, a very generous move — the offer to rebuild and to be in charge of the rebuilding,” Rubio told reporters on a visit to Guatemala.
Trump offered a US “willingness to step in, clear the debris, clean the place up from all the destruction that’s on the ground, clean it up of all these unexploded munitions,” Rubio said.
“And in the meantime, the people living there will not be able to live there while you have crews coming in and removing debris,” he said.
Trump wants to support “rebuilding homes and businesses and things of this nature, so that then people can move back in,” he said.
Meanwhile, Karoline Leavitt told journalists at the White House on Wednesday that the president was committed to rebuilding Gaza and “temporarily” relocating its residents during the process.
Trump said on Tuesday the displacement would be permanent.
Leavitt also said the president had not committed to putting “boots on the ground” in the territory but declined to rule out the use of US troops there.
Her comments come after Trump proposed taking control of the Gaza Strip and redeveloping it into “the Riviera of the Middle East”.
“The US will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it too,” Trump said on Tuesday during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who called the idea “worth paying attention to”.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz also praised Trump’s proposal, adding that Gazans “should be allowed to enjoy freedom of exit and immigration” by land, sea or air.
He said countries like Spain, Ireland and Norway – critics of the war – “are legally obligated to allow every Gazan resident to enter their territory”.
He did not explain how the proposal would work – or whether Gazans would be able to return after reconstruction.
Spain’s foreign minister has rejected the suggestion.
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