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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.
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Israeli Strike on Tehran Kills Bodyguard of Slain Hezbollah Chief

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi lays a wreath as he visits the burial site of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, on the outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon, June 3, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
A member of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah was killed in an Israeli air strike on Tehran alongside a member of an Iran-aligned Iraqi armed group, a senior Lebanese security source told Reuters and the Iraqi group said on Saturday.
The source identified the Hezbollah member as Abu Ali Khalil, who had served as a bodyguard for Hezbollah’s slain chief Hassan Nasrallah. The source said Khalil had been on a religious pilgrimage to Iraq when he met up with a member of the Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada group.
They traveled together to Tehran and were both killed in an Israeli strike there, along with Khalil’s son, the senior security source said. Hezbollah has not joined in Iran’s air strikes against Israel from Lebanon.
Kataeb Sayyed Al-Shuhada published a statement confirming that both the head of its security unit and Khalil had been killed in an Israeli strike.
Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli aerial attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs in September.
Israel and Iran have been trading strikes for nine consecutive days since Israel launched attacks on Iran, saying Tehran was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. Iran has said it does not seek nuclear weapons.
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Hamas Financial Officer and Commander Eliminated by IDF in the Gaza Strip

Israeli soldiers operate during a ground operation in the southern Gaza Strip, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, July 3, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), in cooperation with the General Security Service (Shin Bet), announced on Friday the killing of Ibrahim Abu Shamala, a senior financial official in Hamas’ military wing.
The operation took place on June 17th in the central Gaza Strip.
Abu Shamala held several key positions, including financial officer for Hamas’ military wing and assistant to Marwan Issa, the deputy commander of Hamas’ military wing until his elimination in March 2024.
He was responsible for managing all the financial resources of Hamas’ military wing in Gaza, overseeing the planning and execution of the group’s war budget. This involved handling and smuggling millions of dollars into the Gaza Strip to fund Hamas’ military operations.
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Report: Wary of Assassination by Israel, Khamenei Names 3 Potential Successors

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, May 20, 2025. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
i24 News – Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei named three senior clerics as candidates to succeed him should he be killed, the New York Times reported on Saturday citing unnamed Iranian officials. It is understood the Ayatollah fears he could be assassinated in the coming days.
Khamenei reportedly mostly speaks with his commanders through a trusted aide now, suspending electronic communications.
Khamenei has designated three senior religious figures as candidates to replace him as well as choosing successors in the military chain of command in the likely event that additional senior officials be eliminated.
Earlier on Saturday Israel confirmed the elimination of Saeed Izadi and Bhanam Shahriari.
Shahriari, head of Iran’s Quds Force Weapons Transfer Unit, responsible for arming Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, was killed in an Israeli airstrike over 1,000 km from Israel in western Iran.
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