Danny Danon, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, backed President Donald Trump’s plans for the United States to take control of Gaza, though he doesn’t believe Palestinians should be forcibly removed from the land.
“I think we all agree that it should require the consent — consent of people to move out from where they live, and the consent for other countries to receive them,” Danon said on CNN Wednesday.
During a joint press conference Tuesday evening with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump said the United States will “take over the Gaza Strip,” pledging to rebuild the war-torn land and relocate the roughly 2 million Palestinians to neighboring countries.
While he did not specify how the United States would acquire the contested territory, he did not rule out deploying American troops to run the territory. Netanyahu commended the plan.
The idea has already been disparaged by the Arab world. The Saudi Arabian foreign ministry recently said it has warned the United States about Palestinians’ rights and restated that the proposal would put any future diplomatic relations with Israel at stake. Other Arab countries, like Jordan and Egypt, have vehemently dismissed Trump’s previous pushes to relocate Gazans. And western allies, including the United Kingdom, have been critical of the idea.
Trump’s proposal dominated a discussion that was expected to focus on the negotiated cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, as Netanyahu has vowed to restart the war if it means destroying Hamas.
The idea has sparked confusion and backlash from key GOP lawmakers, including Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). “We’ll see what our Arab friends say about that,” Graham said to reporters on Tuesday. Democrats have largely opposed the plan.
While Danon isn’t certain how Trump’s plan will be implemented, he said that Palestinians are “doomed to stay where they are” if other proposals don’t come forward, as Israel will not allow Hamas to hold power in Gaza.
“If Hamas will stay there, it’s only a matter of time that we will have to attack Gaza again,” he said.
