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US President Donald Trump's administration seems to have walked back on his proposal to resettle Gaza's population, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio clarifying that action in the Palestinian territory would be temporary. White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt also clarified the American President's remarks, saying the US was not planning to put "boots on the ground" in Gaza.
Over the last week, Mr Trump has implied that the US was going to "take over" Gaza, translocating residents into neighbouring territories. He said the over 15 months of war between Israel and Hamas had left the territory looking like a "demolition site", and it needs to be rebuilt so that "world people" can live there. The proposal has drawn the ire of Palestinians, who are worried they may never be allowed back in if they flee, and from the Arab nations, whom Mr Trump called to take them in.
'Not A Permanent Solution'
Shedding clarity on the proposal, Mr Rubio, who is on his first foreign trip as secretary of state to Guatemala City, called Mr Trump's idea a "very generous" offer to help with debris removal and reconstruction of the enclave.
"In the interim, obviously people are going to have to live somewhere while you're rebuilding it," he said.
Mr Trump's press secretary Leavitt also clarified that the translocation of the Gazans would be a temporary solution, not a permanent one.
"The president has made it clear that they need to be temporarily relocated out of Gaza," she said, calling it currently "an uninhabitable place for human beings". She added that it would be "evil to suggest that people should live in such dire conditions."
What Trump Said?
Both Mr Rubio and Ms Leavitt's remarks contradicted Mr Trump, who on Tuesday night said, "If we can get a beautiful area to resettle people, permanently, in nice homes where they can be happy and not be shot and not be killed and not be knifed to death like what's happening in Gaza."
He said US officials are framing his call to permanently "resettle" all Palestinians out of Gaza as a humanitarian gesture, as there is no alternative for people living there because Gaza is a "demolition site". The President added that he envisioned "long-term" US ownership of the territory, which sits along the Mediterranean Sea, 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," Mr Trump said on Tuesday during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who backed the idea saying it was "worth paying attention to".