Donald Trump promised Wednesday to take control of war-torn Gaza after a plan to transfer Palestinians out of the strip sparked international outcry. Facing criticism from Palestinians and Arab governments, Trump's Secretary of State Marco Rubio said any transfer of Gazans would be temporary, while the White House said there was no commitment to sending US troops.

The Power of Outcry over Trump's Gaza plan prompts walkback

WASHINGTON, D.C. — United States President Donald Trump's administration on Wednesday appeared to backtrack from his uproar-sparking proposal to take over the Gaza Strip, with the United Nations warning against ethnic cleansing in the Palestinian territory.

Facing a wave of criticism from Palestinians, Arab governments and world leaders, Trump's Secretary of State Marco Rubio said any transfer of Gazans would be temporary, while the White House said there was no commitment to sending US troops.

Trump, however, insisted that everybody loves the plan, which he announced to audible gasps during a White House press conference with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Offering few details on how the US could remove more than 2 million Palestinians or control the war-battered territory, Trump declared on Tuesday The US will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it, too. We'll own it.

Rubio said the idea was not meant as hostile, describing it as a generous move — the offer to rebuild and to be in charge of the rebuilding.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt later said Washington would not fund Gaza's reconstruction after more than 15 months of war between US ally Israel and Palestinian group Hamas.

US involvement does not mean boots on the ground or that American taxpayers will be funding this effort, Leavitt said.

The UN warned against ethnic cleansing in Gaza.
At its essence, the exercise of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people is about the right of Palestinians to simply live as human beings in their own land, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a speech to a UN committee that deals with the rights of Palestinians.

Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric, previewing the UN chief's speech, told reporters Any forced displacement of people is tantamount to ethnic cleansing.

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