By AAMER MADHANI, TIA GOLDENBERG and ZEKE MILLER Associated Press
Trump wants US to take ownership of Gaza and redevelop it after Palestinians are resettled elsewhere
Updated: 7:35 PM EST Feb 4, 2025
This is what returning home looks like after 15 months of unrelenting war. There is little left to salvage here in what once was Gaza’s densely populated Al Bore refugee camp. Israel’s military onslaught leaving this small strip of land almost entirely uninhabitable. This was our house, our garden, Amel says. This was our whole life, all our memories. Her daughter clutches on to whatever toys they were able to recover from their destroyed home. Like all families here, they will now try to carry on with life, no matter what uncertainty lies ahead. In Gaza City, the streets have already begun to fill in the absence of air strikes and artillery. Little girls dressed in the traditional Palestinian hole, celebratory cakes being shared in the streets. For many, amid so much loss, the ceasefire is both *** moment of long awaited respite and *** moment of rare joy. Even though we are heading into *** difficult and uncertain phase, the thought of no longer losing the people you love, of being able to sleep one night without the fear of losing someone dear to you, is truly *** relief, this woman says. For over *** year now, Palestinians in Gaza have spent each night hoping to survive just one more day. Gaza is small, but it’s survived against the world. The whole world was defeated, and we endured. To persevere is in itself *** victory. But even under *** ceasefire, the war has made survival at its most basic level *** persistent challenge for Palestinians in Gaza. In Rafah, an area once designated *** safe zone, the remains of decomposing bodies are *** reminder of the kind of brutality Gaza’s people have survived. Buildings stand hollowed beside mountains of rubble, some returning to their now destroyed homes, but this time alone, their loved ones killed over the course of the war. We are defeated. We have no life left. We will live in the streets, Mohammed says. I came here hoping to see my house still standing, but I found it destroyed. With so much lost in Gaza, the road ahead will be long and difficult. But despite the incomprehensible suffering this small enclave has faced, there remains an unwavering sense of hope.
President Donald Trump said Tuesday he wants the U.S. to take ownership of the Gaza Strip and redevelop it after Palestinians are resettled elsewhere.Related video above: Gaza residents process grief and loss after Israel-Hamas ceasefire“We will own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site,” Trump said a start of a joint news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Trump added the U.S. would level destroyed buildings and “create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area.”The comments came after Trump earlier suggested that displaced Palestinians in Gaza be “permanently” resettled outside the war-torn territory.
President Donald Trump said Tuesday he wants the U.S. to take ownership of the Gaza Strip and redevelop it after Palestinians are resettled elsewhere.
Related video above: Gaza residents process grief and loss after Israel-Hamas ceasefire
“We will own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site,” Trump said a start of a joint news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Trump added the U.S. would level destroyed buildings and “create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area.”
The comments came after Trump earlier suggested that displaced Palestinians in Gaza be “permanently” resettled outside the war-torn territory.
