Donald Trump has said that Palestinians have “no alternative” but to leave Gaza due to the devastation left by Israel’s war on Hamas, in effect endorsing ethnic cleansing of the territory over the opposition of Palestinians and the neighbouring countries.
Speaking as he prepared to host Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on Tuesday, Trump repeated the suggestion that Gaza’s population should be relocated to Jordan and Egypt – something both countries have firmly rejected.
Trump claimed Palestinians would “love to leave Gaza”, telling reporters: “I would think that they would be thrilled.”
That’s simply false, and literally every aid organization and the UN and international press said otherwise. Long lines of hundreds of trucks were not allowed to enter Gaza by the Israeli military, I saw the videos and interviews of the drivers, even Biden admitted it was because Netanyahu refused to allow trucks in and not because of logistics inside Gaza itself. It was part of Netanyahu’s attempt to starve the population both to please the rightwingers in his coalition and to pressure Hamas into surrendering.