Trump Gaza Proposal Live Updates: GOP Lawmakers Split On Trump’s Plan For Gaza Strip

Feb. 6, 11:00 a.m. ESTGOP lawmakers have expressed differing opinions on Trump’s plan to relocate Palestinians and rebuild the Gaza Strip. Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., told CNN he thinks the United States should be considered one of the countries willing to take in Palestinians to make the plan work, and said as long as they’re willing to “assimilate and become Americans… I welcome them.”

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., however, told reporters he wouldn’t support directing any U.S. financial resources to rebuilding the area: “In your natural lifetime or mine, you will not see me voting to take U.S. taxpayer money and rebuilding Gaza.”

Feb. 6, 7:00 a.m. ESTTrump posted on Truth Social that the Palestinian enclave would be “turned over to the United States by Israel” once the war there ends, and that the U.S. would work with “great development teams from all over the world” to construct “what would become one of the greatest and most spectacular developments of its kind on Earth”—arguing U.S. troops wouldn’t be needed.

Feb. 6, 6:00 a.m. ESTIsraeli Defense Minister Israel Katz expressed his support for the controversial plan to relocate Palestinians from Gaza, announcing on X that he has instructed the Israeli Defense Forces to “prepare a plan that will allow any resident of Gaza who wishes to leave to do so, to any country willing to receive them.”

Katz said Trump’s idea it was a “bold initiative” and claimed such a move would allow for the reconstruction of Gaza — a process he believes “will take many years.”

Katz also suggested that countries like Spain, Ireland and Norway—which have criticized Israel’s military operation in Gaza—should be “obligated” to take in refugees from the enclave, and argued: “Their hypocrisy will be exposed if they refuse.”

Feb. 5, 2 p.m. ESTJohnson called the proposal “a bold move” and said to do nothing in the Gaza Strip would leave open doors for terrorist organizations to “eliminate Israel as a state.” He asked people to “withhold judgement” until a more formal plan is announced.

Feb. 5, 1:30 p.m. ESTWhite House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the president’s plan for Gaza has not been fleshed out and was “written … as he revealed it to the world.” She said “the president has not committed to putting boots on the ground in Gaza” and said that any displacement of Palestinians from the area—which has been likened to ethnic cleansing—would be temporary.

“The president has made it clear that they need to be temporarily relocated out of Gaza for the rebuilding of this effort,” Leavitt said. “Again, it’s a demolition site right now. It’s not a livable place for any human being. And I think it’s actually quite evil to suggest that people should live in such dire conditions.”

Feb. 5, 1:30 p.m. ESTSecretary of State Marco Rubio made comments suggesting Trump was proposing to help clear out and rebuild the area, not take ownership: “The only thing President Trump has done — very generously, in my view — is offer the United States’ willingness to step in, clear the debris, clean the place up from all the destruction… so that then people can move back in,” Rubio said.

Rubio also tweeted “Make Gaza Beautiful Again.”

Feb. 5, 12:30 p.m. ESTIsrael announced that it would withdraw from its participation in the U.N. Human Rights Council.

Feb. 5, 12 p.m. ESTThe United Nations spokesman Stéphane Dujarric did not directly comment on Trump’s plan but said that “any forced displacement of people is tantamount to ethnic cleansing.”

Feb. 5, 8 a.m. ESTTrump’s national security adviser, Mike Waltz, told Fox Business the president’s plan to relocate residents of the Gaza Strip is a necessary step in the rebuilding process and the administration has been asking leaders in the region about the proposal: “We’ve talked to the Saudis, we’ve talked to the Egyptians, we’ve talked to the Jordanians. Of course, we have Bibi Netanyahu here. What’s the plan?” he said.

Feb. 5, 7:30 a.m. ESTSen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said the U.S. has “no business” occupying the Gaza Strip, adding “I thought we voted for America First.”

Feb. 5, 7:30 a.m. ESTPalestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called for the United Nations to step in to “protect the Palestinian people and their inalienable rights,” and said that Trump’s plan would be “a serious violation of international law.”

Feb. 5, 7:30 a.m. ESTBadr Abdelatty, the foreign minister of Egypt—one of the countries that Trump has proposed as a site for the resettlement of Palestinians—met with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa and said Cairo was eager for the Palestinian Authority to “assume its duties in the Gaza Strip as part of the occupied Palestinian territories.”

While Abdelatty’s statement didn’t directly address Trump’s remarks, he expressed his country’s support for the “legitimate and inalienable rights of the Palestinian people” and called for the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Feb. 5, 6:30 a.m. ESTAmid the international condemnation, Trump’s proposal drew support from far-right members of Israel’s ruling coalition government. The country’s finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, hailed the proposal as the “the true answer” to the Oct. 7 attack on Israel and added “Those responsible for the horrific massacre on our land will face the permanent loss of their own.”

Feb. 5, 5:30 a.m. ESTSeveral key U.S. allies, including the U.K., France, Germany and Australia have also dismissed the suggestion to relocate Palestinians while reaffirming their support for a two-state solution.

Speaking at a press conference in Kyiv on Wednesday, U.K. Foreign Minister David Lammy said: “We’ve always been clear in our belief that we must see two states. We must see Palestinians live and prosper in their homelands in Gaza and the West Bank.”

The French Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying it opposes “any forced displacement of the Palestinian population of Gaza, which would constitute a serious violation of international law, an attack on the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinians.”

The statement added that France will “continue to push for the implementation of the two-state solution, the only thing that can guarantee long-term peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians.”

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said his country “supports, on a bipartisan basis, a two-state solution in the Middle East,” but stopped short of directly commenting on Trump’s remarks saying: “I’ve said before that I don’t intend to have a running commentary on the president of the United States’ statements.”

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said: “A displacement of the Palestinian civilian population from Gaza would not just be unacceptable and against international law. This would also lead to new suffering and new hatred…There must be no solution over the heads of the Palestinians.”

Feb. 5, 5:00 a.m. ESTTurkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan rejected Trump’s proposal saying any plan to displace Palestinians from Gaza is “unacceptable” and even considering such a thing is “wrong.”

Feb. 5, 4:30 a.m. ESTDuring the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s daily press briefing on Wednesday, spokesperson Lin Jian said “we oppose the forced displacement and relocation of the population in Gaza and hope that all relevant parties will take the ceasefire…an opportunity to push for a two state solution.

Feb. 5, 4:10 a.m. ESTHussein al-Sheikh, the Secretary General of the Palestine Liberation Organization (seen by many as the successor to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas) remarked on X that the Palestinian leadership “affirms its firm position that the two-state solution, in accordance with international legitimacy and international law, is the guarantee of security, stability and peace.”

The statement added that the Palestinian leadership rejected “all calls for the displacement of the Palestinian people from their homeland. We were born here, we have lived here and we will remain here.”

Feb. 5, 4:00 a.m. ESTSaudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement rejecting “any infringement on the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, whether through Israeli settlement policies, land annexation, or attempts to displace the Palestinian people from their land.”

The statement added that the Saudi government’s position was “unwavering…non-negotiable and not subject to compromises” and said the country’s de facto leader, Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman, has emphasized that Saudi Arabia will not establish diplomatic relations with Israel without the establishment of an “independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.”

Feb. 5, 3:15 a.m. ESTScotland’s first minister, John Swinney, said the relocation of Palestinians from Gaza to other countries, as suggested by Trump, would be tantamount to “ethnic cleansing,” the first politician to make such a declaration. While there is no specific definition of ethnic cleansing under the United Nations, the organization references a report describing it as “a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic or religious group from certain geographic areas.”

Feb. 4, 8:00 p.m. ESTTrump said “we’ll own it” when discussing the future of Gaza, and suggested the U.S. could dispose of active bombs still in the area, “level the site” and “create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing” for “the people of the area,” but it is unclear what people he was referring to.

The president also said Gaza should “not go through a process of rebuilding and occupation by the same people,” suggesting Palestinians from Gaza should be relocated to other countries.

The president, who made the comments at a press conference alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, added the U.S. would take up a “long-term ownership position” of Gaza, though he did not answer a question about what legal standing would allow the U.S. to take over the region.