On Feb. 4, President Donald Trump met with Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu and proposed the United States take over Gaza and rebuild it as the “Riviera of the Middle East,” according to The New York Times.
While the exact plans are unclear, Trump has suggested that Gazans would be relocated to surrounding countries. Other members of his administration contradicted his statements that Gazans would be permanently displaced and that the US would use military force. Walking back his previous claims in an interview with Brian Kilmeade of Fox News Radio on Feb. 21, Trump said if neighboring Middle Eastern countries would not agree to the plan, he was “not forcing it.”
For Mkhaimar Abusada, a visiting associate professor from Al-Azhar University in Gaza, this suggestion from Trump is “unacceptable.” Abusada’s parents were expelled from Palestine during the 1948 war, or what Palestinians call the Nakba. He was born in a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, and after getting his PhD in the United States, returned to Gaza to teach at Al-Azhar. He was forced to evacuate when the war with Israel broke out in 2023.
When Abusada first heard Trump’s recent claims about the United States’ plans in Gaza, he said he felt angry and depressed, even though Trump’s plan was not feasible.
“The plan isn’t going to be implemented for two reasons,” Abusada said. “One, that the Palestinians in Gaza were never consulted with this plan by President Donald Trump. And second, the Arab countries of Egypt and Jordan, especially Egypt, have made it crystal clear that they are not going to allow the Gazans to resettle in their territory.”
Still, Trump’s statements concern him.
“We’re talking here about the president of the strongest country in the world,” Abusada said. “When he says something, it has to be taken seriously.”
Central to Trump’s proposal is the displacement of Palestinians. After his initial statements in the meeting with Netanyahu, Trump clarified that Palestinians would not have the right to return to their homes. For Abusada, this is reminiscent of the historical displacement of Palestinian people.
“It just brought to my memory what happened to the Palestinian people 76 years ago,” Abusada said, referring to the Nakba. “When they were expelled from their homes, and they were never allowed to go back.”
During his first term, Trump moved the American embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, recognizing it as the capital of Israel after a long-contested debate. His first administration also reduced funding to Palestinians and devised the “Deal of the Century” which permitted Israel to annex large parts of the West Bank.
“It has never crossed my mind that he would go that far to the point where he is sometimes speaking about owning Gaza, sometimes speaking about not owning Gaza but just rebuilding Gaza and making it the ‘Riviera of the Middle East,’” Abusada said.
Abusada said that Trump’s plan to displace Palestinian people in Gaza and rebuild would if carried out, have major implications on two levels.
“Such statements by President Donald Trump have been greeted and welcomed by right-wing politicians in Israel, so that might be a green light to the Israeli government to continue the war against Gaza. And second, it might destabilize the Middle East,” Abusada said, explaining that adding more refugees to neighboring countries could upset existing peace deals.
Ultimately, Abusada said it should not be up to the president to decide the future of another group of people.
“The American people should stand up to President Trump and express their views and their opinions to reject such displacement of the Palestinian people,” Abusada said.
