Donald Trump has stunned people across the world after suggesting Palestinians should be removed from Gaza so that the US can turn the enclave into the “Riviera of the Middle East”.
Speaking alongside Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the US president suggested that inhabitants in the besieged Middle Eastern territory should be “permanently resettled” in Egypt, Jordan and other countries.
He said Gaza is like “living in hell”, sitting next to the person who people have argued made it that way.
Trump added that there could be a “beautiful area” for Palestinians to resettle outside of the place they have called home for generations.
Asked whether he was willing to send US troops to fill a security vacuum in Gaza, Trump did not rule it out.
“As far as Gaza is concerned, we’ll do what is necessary. If it’s necessary, we’ll do that. We’re going to take over that piece that we’re going to develop it,” he said.
Trump’s comments are a remarkable assertion from a sitting American president, particularly one who rose to political power in the United States through his criticism of America’s longest wars in the Middle East and pledges to return US investments back to its citizens.
They open a host of questions about how Trump’s land-grab would proceed, what its legal authorities would be and who would pay for the effort.
Reaction on social media has been fierce, with one person calling it the most absurd thing he has ever heard in his life.
Others have suggested such moves, if they were to take place, would constitute ‘ethnic cleansing’.
Here’s a taste of the reaction so far:
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