Palestinians will have no right to return under Gaza takeover plan: Donald Trump

On Tuesday, shocking the world, Trump first revealed his plan to "own" Gaza during a joint news conference with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu drawing outrage from Palestinians.

Speaking to Fox News Channel's Bret Baier, Trump said, "I would own it" and that there could be as many as six different sites for Palestinians to live outside Gaza under the plan.

On being asked if the Palestinians would have the right to return to the enclave, most of which has been destroyed by Israel's military since the October 2023 war, Trump said: "No, they wouldn't, because they're going to have much better housing."

"In other words, I'm talking about building a permanent place for them because if they have to return now, it'll be years before you could ever -- it's not habitable," he said.

The Arab world and others in the international community have rejected Trump's proposal.

In the Fox interview, Trump said he would build "beautiful communities" for more than two million Palestinians who live in Gaza.

"Could be five, six, could be two. But we'll build safe communities, a little bit away from where they are, where all of this danger is," Trump said.

"In the meantime, I would own this. Think of it as a real estate development for the future. It would be a beautiful piece of land. No big money spent," he added.

Last week, Trump said the USA will 'take over' Gaza and create a "Riviera of the Middle East" after resettling Palestinians elsewhere.

Trump was quoted as saying by BBC: "The US will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too. We’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site"

"Level the site and get rid of the destroyed buildings. Level it out and create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area," he had said.

"We'll do a real job. Do something different. Just can't go back. If you go back, it's going to be the same way it has for 100 years," the US President had said.