Steve Witkoff, the U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, said Gaza will be “uninhabitable” for at least 10 to 15 years as reconstruction talks continue amid a fragile ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
“I think everybody wants to see peace in the region,” Witkoff said in a Tuesday interview on “Hannity.”
“And peace in the region means a better life for the Palestinians. A better life is not necessarily tied to the physical space that you’re in today. A better life is about better opportunity, better financial conditions, better aspirations for you and your family. That doesn’t occur because you get to pitch a tent in the Gaza Strip and you’re surrounded by 30,000 munitions that could go off at any moment. It’s a dangerous place to live today.”
President Donald Trump proposed the United States “take over” the Gaza Strip, level it and rebuild it at some point in the future during a joint news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“I do see a long-term ownership position, and I see it bringing great stability to that part of the Middle East, and maybe the entire Middle East,” Trump said, adding it’s a decision he didn’t make lightly.
“Everybody I’ve spoken to loves the idea of the United States owning that piece of land, developing and creating thousands of jobs with something that will be magnificent — in a really magnificent area that nobody would know. Nobody could look, because all they see is death and destruction and rubble and demolished buildings falling all over. It’s just a terrible, terrible sight.”
The president has repeatedly suggested relocating Palestinians to nearby Egypt and Jordan, although both countries have rejected such calls.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry released a statement shortly after Trump’s remarks, reaffirming Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s position on the establishment of a Palestinian state, something it says must happen before the Arab country establishes diplomatic relations with Israel.
Witkoff told Fox News host Sean Hannity that Trump wants to give Palestinians “more hope” for a better future, and one potentially away from the war-torn enclave.
“I think he’s telling the Middle East that the last 50 years of doing things was not a correct way of doing things, and that he’s going to change it up, because all of those iterations have not worked,” the real estate investor and developer said.
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Netanyahu told reporters that Trump’s Gaza proposal is something that could change history.
“President Trump is taking it to a much higher level,” Netanyahu said. “He sees a different future for that piece of land that has been the focus of so much terrorism, so much — so many attacks against us, so many trials and so many tribulations. He has a different idea, and I think it is worth paying attention to this.”
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