02-06-2025 Chris Mitchell
JERUSALEM, Israel – One day after the announcement of President Donald Trump’s surprising plan to take over the Gaza Strip, reactions are pouring in from Gaza to Washington, D.C. The White House is now walking back the idea of the U.S. rebuilding Gaza, but Trump’s idea has already ‘irreversibly’ changed the Middle East conversation. Some believe the Middle East needs his kind of out-of-the-box thinking.
Newly installed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Defense Department and addressed the Trump Gaza plan.
He noted, “I would just say to the question of Gaza, the definition of insanity is attempting to do the same thing over and over and over again. And as the president and prime minister pointed out last night, the president is willing to think outside the box, look for new and unique dynamic ways to solve problems that have felt like they’re intractable.”
On the Fox News “Hannity” program, Netanyahu also defended the proposal.
“But the actual idea of allowing first, Gazans who want to leave, to leave. I mean, what’s wrong with that?” Netanyahu asked. “They can leave. They can then come back. They can relocate and come back. But you have to rebuild Gaza if you want to rebuild Gaza.”
The prime minister added, “This is the first good idea that I’ve heard (concerning Gaza). It’s a remarkable idea and I think it should be really pursued. Examined, pursued, and done, because I think it will create a different future for everyone.”
However, some in Gaza reject the idea.
Ahmed Abedel Aal, a Palestinian refugee declared, “We tell Trump that we will not leave Gaza or an inch of it, and we will not sell our homeland, we will remain steadfast and cling to this land despite the siege and the pain we are experiencing.”
Gaza resident Nayefa Rehan said, “I am not leaving – neither me nor my children, family, daughters or all my people. If we are going to die then we will die on our sand, if they want to hit us with missiles or target us with airstrikes we are still not leaving here.”
Yet, a poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research found that even before October 7th, 44 percent of young Gazan men and 31 percent of all Gazans wanted to emigrate.
Some believe that after 16 months of war and facing years of living in tents amid the rubble, that number will increase dramatically.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar believes Gazans should have a choice.
“As long as migration happens by an individual’s free will, regardless of the location in the world, and as long as there is a country willing to accept that person, can anyone claim it is immoral?” Sa’ar asked. “Can anyone say it is inhumane? Is it only moral regarding any other nation or individual, except for the Palestinians? This is what happens, we see it in all conflicts.”
Historian, author, and former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren wrote that Trump’s proposal is changing the rules of the Middle East.
“Even if Trump’s vision never materializes, he has fundamentally and irreversibly changed the conversation. By upending long-held assumptions and introducing radical new ideas, he has opened the door to creative diplomacy — and the possibility of a more stable, and perhaps even peaceful, Middle East,” Oren wrote.
That conversation is far from over. Next week, the leader of one country that has rejected President Trump’s recommendation to take in Palestinian refugees, Jordan’s King Abdullah, visits the White House. Beyond that, more high-level discussions with regional leaders are already on the horizon.
That conversation will continue when Jordan’s King Abdullah visits the White House next week with even more discussions planned with leaders here in the region.