US officials defended President Donald Trump's suggestion that more Palestinians in war-shattered Gaza relocate to neighboring countries but insisted he was trying to look at the problem realistically and not imposing a solution.
Previewing Trump's White House talks later on Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the senior officials sought to soften what was widely seen as Trump's call for mass displacement of Gazans from the enclave, which Arab states and Palestinian leaders have vehemently rejected.
The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, stressed that the US wants to work with its Arab partners and Israel to come up with creative solutions to the challenge.
The suggestion that Trump made last month echoed the wishes of Israel's far right and contradicted former President Joe Biden's commitment against mass resettlement of Palestinians.
The officials stopped short of explicitly reiterating Trump's call for Jordan and Egypt to take in more Gazans, but also did not retract his suggestion.
“President Trump looks at the Gaza Strip and sees it as a demolition site, sees it as impractical for it to be rebuilt within three to five years, believes it will take at least 10 to 15 and thinks it is inhumane to force people to live in an uninhabitable plot of land with unexploded ordnances and rubble,” one senior official told reporters.
Trump “is looking for solutions to help the people of Gaza have normal lives while the Gaza Strip is being rebuilt, and he is trying to look at this in a realistic way,” the official added.
Five Arab foreign ministers and a senior Palestinian official sent a joint letter to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday opposing the idea of displacing Palestinians from Gaza. It was signed by Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, as well as the Palestinian Authority,
Trump first floated the suggestion of Jordan and Egypt taking in Palestinians from Gaza shortly after his Jan. 20 inauguration. When asked if he was suggesting that as a long-term or short-term solution, the president said: "Could be either."
Trump's comments revived long-standing Palestinian fears of being permanently driven from their homes.
The latest Gaza conflict was set off on Oct. 7, 2023, when Palestinian Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel's military has since leveled large swaths of Gaza, creating a humanitarian crisis, and killed over 47,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry which does not distinguish between combatants and non-combatants.