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Trump Clarifies Palestinians Would Not Have ‘Right to Return’ to Gaza Under His Plan
US President Donald Trump (R) in the Oval of the White House in January 2025. Photo: Fortune via Reuters Connect
US President Donald Trump reiterated in an interview this past weekend his intention for the United States to “own” the Gaza Strip while also revealing that Palestinians would not have the “right to return” to the enclave under his proposal.
While speaking with Fox News anchor Bret Baier, Trump outlined his desire to transform Gaza into a “real estate development” project. The president also explained that the civilians in Gaza would be transferred to “beautiful communities” located away from Israel’s border.
“We’ll build beautiful communities for the 1.9 million people. We will build beautiful communities, safe communities, could be five, six, could be two. But [we] will build safe communities a little bit away from where they are where all this danger is,” Trump said.
“In the meantime, I will own this. Think of this as a real estate development for the future. It would be a beautiful piece of land,” he continued.
Baier interjected, asking Trump if the Palestinians would “have the right to return” to the land.
“No, they wouldn’t, because they’re going to have much better housing,” Trump said. “In other words, I’m talking about building a permanent place for them.”
Trump claimed that it would take years for Gaza to become “habitable” again in the aftermath of the Israel-Hamas war, arguing that Palestinian civilians would be better served seeking refuge outside the devastated coastal enclave. The American president said he believes he could “make a deal” with Jordan and Egypt to absorb Gazan refugees, pointing out that the United States gives each country “billions and billions of dollars a year.”
Trump has repeatedly communicated a desire to upend the status quo in Gaza. While speaking to reporters on Sunday before the Super Bowl, he expressed outrage over the emaciated appearance of the three Israeli hostages released from Gaza by Hamas on Saturday as part of the ceasefire deal, saying he does not “know how much longer we can take that.”
“They looked like Holocaust survivors; they were in horrible condition. They were emaciated,” Trump said.
“I don’t know how much longer we can take that … at some point we’re going to lose our patience,” he continued. “I know we have a [Gaza ceasefire and hostage-release] deal … they dribble in and keep dribbling in … but they [the Israeli hostages] are in really bad shape.”
Trump’s comments echoed sentiments he shared during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the White House last week. He referred to Gaza as a “demolition site” and said that civilians there will have “no alternative” but to leave. Trump also called on Egypt, Jordan, and other Arab states in the region to take in Palestinians from Gaza after nearly 16 months of war there between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, which ruled the enclave before the war and remains the dominant faction.
“Look, the Gaza thing has not worked. It’s never worked. And I feel very differently about Gaza than a lot of people. I think they should get a good, fresh, beautiful piece of land. We’ll get some people to put up the money to build it and make it nice and make it habitable and enjoyable,” Trump said to reporters last week.
Trump’s comments regarding Palestinian resettlement have been met with immense backlash, with some observers accusing him of supporting an ethnic cleansing plan. However, proponents of the proposal argue that it could offer Palestinians a better future and would mitigate the threat posed by Hamas.
Arab leaders have adamantly rejected Trump’s proposal. Saudi Arabia has indicated that any future normalization agreement with Israel would need to include an end to the Gaza war and the pathway to the formation of a Palestinian state.
Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists started the Gaza war on Oct. 7, 2023, when they invaded southern Israel, murdered 1,200 people, and kidnapped 251 hostages back to Gaza while perpetrating widespread sexual violence in what was the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust.
Israel responded with a military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities in neighboring Gaza.
Last month, both sides reached a Gaza ceasefire and hostage-release deal brokered by the US, Egypt, and Qatar.
The post Trump Clarifies Palestinians Would Not Have ‘Right to Return’ to Gaza Under His Plan first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.