Donald Trump speaks to the press aboard Air Force One, accompanied by the White House spokesperson, en route from Las Vegas to Miami, January 25, 2025.
AFP
US President Donald Trump on Saturday raised the idea of a plan to “clean up” the Gaza Strip, saying he wanted to send the Palestinians from this territory to Egypt and Jordan “temporarily” or “in the long term”. term” to obtain peace.
“We are talking about 1.5 million people, and we are simply cleaning up that. You know, over the centuries, this site has experienced many conflicts. And I don’t know, something has to happen,” Donald Trump told reporters, comparing the Palestinian territory to a “demolition site” after 15 months of war with Israel.
Trump said he had spoken to King Abdullah II of Jordan about the issue, and would do the same on Sunday with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi.
‘It’s literally a demolition site’
“I would like Egypt to welcome people. And I would like Jordan to welcome people,” Donald Trump told reporters aboard the presidential plane Air Force One. According to him, the displacement of Gaza residents could be “temporary or long-term”.
“It’s literally a demolition site right now, almost everything is demolished and people are dying there,” he said. “So I would rather get involved with some Arab nations and build housing somewhere else where maybe they could live in peace for once,” he added.
The vast majority of Gaza’s 2.4 million residents have been displaced, often multiple times, by the war sparked by Hamas’s attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023. A truce, which began on January 19, still stands and resulted in two exchanges of Palestinian prisoners for Israeli hostages.
Donald Trump had put intense pressure on both camps to reach an agreement before his inauguration on January 20.
“A large number of things” ordered by Israel now delivered
US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that a “lot of things” ordered by Israel from the United States were now being delivered, in response to press reports that his administration had released a shipment of 2,000 pounds of bombs (907 kg).
-“A lot of things that were ordered and paid for by Israel, but not sent by Biden, are now on their way!” wrote Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform.
The administration of former Democratic President Joe Biden suspended deliveries to Israel of 1,800 2,000-pound bombs last year, as the Israeli army considered a large-scale offensive on Rafah, in the southern Strip. Gaza, where 1.4 million Palestinians displaced by bombing and fighting had found refuge.
A “great human tragedy”
Joe Biden had warned that the use of this type of bomb in such areas would cause a “great human tragedy”.
Days before Joe Biden left the White House, Israel and Hamas reached a truce aimed at ending the war in the Gaza Strip, sparked by Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
The ceasefire still holds, and Israel and Hamas exchanged a second group of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners over the weekend. Donald Trump’s message does not specify which weapons were released.
Bombs with great destructive power
In an article published on Axios, Israeli national security journalist Barak Ravid wrote that Donald Trump had ordered the Defense Department to lift the blockade on the 2,000-pound bombs.
This type of large, air-dropped bomb, which is both precise and has great destructive power, is typically used to cause widespread damage to targets such as military installations, command centers and infrastructure.
During his first presidential term, Donald Trump often boasted that Israel “never had a better friend in the White House,” a sentiment often repeated by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
(afp)
