Trump’s Gaza plan: There is more to a home than real estate
livemint.com
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Even by his own standards, US President Donald Trump’s announcement on Gaza this week was a head-spinner. America, he said, would take over that war-ravaged strip of land, move its 2-million-odd people out, secure it with US troops if necessary, and then build a grand “Riviera of the Middle East" by the Mediterranean Sea where anybody from around the world could eventually come and live.
His declaration was met with global consternation. Nearly every country rejected the idea, including all other members of the UN Security Council. Brics nations have weighed in with their criticism, as have countries Trump may have expected to count on for help with his plan, like Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt and Turkey.
Leaders have called the plan bizarre, absurd, inhumane and unworkable. Gaza’s Palestinians, evicted from their homes as Israel flattened their homeland with bombs, must be allowed to return home, leaders argued. London said nothing should be done that unsettles the fragile Hamas-Israel ceasefire.
António Guterres, the UN’s secretary-general, warned against “any form of ethnic cleansing." To be sure, White House officials appeared to backpedal on the proposal a day after it was made, saying that Palestinian displacement would be temporary, although Trump had said “either" when asked if he meant an interim or permanent eviction. The White House press secretary said Trump believes a US role in rebuilding Gaza would “ensure stability in the region," adding, “That does not mean boots on the ground in Gaza." Whether Trump plucked the idea out of a hat or whether it has been in the works is not the point—the latter may be closer to the truth. What matters is that it cannot be brushed aside as
. Read more on livemint.com
