Palestinians, their allies and other nations reacted strongly to President Donald Trump’s proposal on Tuesday, February 4, that the United States “take over” the Gaza Strip and permanently resettle its residents.

Trump’s suggestion came at a White House news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who smiled several times as the president detailed a plan to build new settlements for Palestinians outside the Gaza Strip, and for the US to take “ownership” in redeveloping the war-torn territory into “the Riviera of the Middle East.”

“The US will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too,” Trump said. “We’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site, level the site, and get rid of the destroyed buildings, level it out, create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs.”

His remarks drew swift opposition from allies and adversaries alike.

Palestinian president says Trump’s plan would be ‘a serious violation of international law’

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called for the United Nations to “protect the Palestinian people and their inalienable rights,” saying that what Trump wanted to do would be “a serious violation of international law.”

Meanwhile, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohamad Mustafa provided “an integrated vision” to remove the rubble and rebuild Gaza in cooperation with international groups, according to an Egyptian Foreign Ministry statement after Mustafa met with Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty in Cairo. The statement did not address Trump’s remarks directly but said both sides called to accelerate rebuilding and the delivery of aid “without moving the Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip.”

Hamas says Trump plan to take over Gaza will pour ‘oil on the fire’

Hamas said that the proposal “aiming for the United States to occupy the Gaza Strip” was “aggressive to our people and cause, won’t serve stability in the region and will only put oil on the fire.”

“Our Palestinian people (…) will not allow any state in the world to occupy our land or impose guardianship on our great Palestinian people who have offered rivers of blood to liberate our land from occupation and to establish our state with Jerusalem as its capital,” it said in a statement. Earlier, Hamas spokesman Abdel Latif al-Qanou characterized Trump’s plan as a “racist stance,” aligned “with the Israeli extreme right’s position.”

France warns against any displacement of Palestinians

In response to Trump’s comments, the French Foreign Ministery said Tuesday that displacing Gaza’s Palestinians ″would constitute a grave violation of international law, an attack on the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinians, a major threat to the two-state solution and a factor of major destabilization for our close partners Egypt and Jordan as well as the entire region.″

It said France will mobilize for a two-state solution under the Palestinian Authority, and that ″Hamas should be disarmed and have no part in the governance of this territory.″ France also remains strongly opposed to Israeli settlements and ″any unilateral annexation of the West Bank,″ it said.

UK says Palestinians should ‘live and prosper in their homelands’

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that Palestinians “must be allowed home” in Gaza. “They must be allowed home. They must be allowed to rebuild, and we should be with them in that rebuild on the way to a two-state solution,” Starmer told the UK parliament during his weekly questions session.

Germany says Gaza, West Bank and East Jerusalem belong to Palestinians

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, a staunch ally of Israel, said, “It is clear that Gaza – along with the West Bank and East Jerusalem – belongs to the Palestinians. They form the starting point for a future state of Palestine.”

“A displacement of the Palestinian civilian population from Gaza would not just be unacceptable and against international law,” Baerbock said in a statement. “This would also lead to new suffering and new hatred.” She said that there must not be a solution “over the heads of the Palestinians” and a negotiated two-state solution remains the only one.

Baerbock, who didn’t mention Trump or refer explicitly to his latest proposal, said everyone agrees “that Gaza must be rebuilt as soon as possible,” and that that will take “massive international commitment,” to which Europe is prepared to contribute.

Turkish foreign minister says Trump’s Gaza comments are ‘unacceptable’

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said in a Wednesday interview with the state-run Anadolu Agency that the past displacement of Palestinians from their lands and the settlement of Israelis in those areas was the root cause of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He described Trump’s comments as “unacceptable.”

“The issue of deportations from Gaza is not something that either the region or we would accept. Even thinking about it, in my opinion, is wrong and absurd,” he said. Fidan added there is a general consensus for a two-state solution, with East Jerusalem as the capital of a sovereign Palestinian state.

China says it opposes the forced relocation of people in Gaza

China opposes the forced relocation of people in Gaza, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Wednesday in Beijing when asked about Trump’s comments. “China has always believed that Palestinian rule is the basic principle of post-war governance in Gaza,” said spokesperson Lin Jian. He reiterated Beijing’s longstanding support of a two-state solution in resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Houthi leader says Trump’s Gaza plan represents ‘American arrogance’

Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a leader of Yemen’s Houthi rebels, wrote on the social platform X that Trump’s remarks represented “American arrogance” that will subsume all if it is met with “submission from the Arabs.”

“If Egypt or Jordan or both decide to challenge America, Yemen will stand with all its strength by its side, to the furthest extent and without red lines,” he added.

The Houthis launched attacks on Israel and commercial shipping running through the Red Sea corridor during the Israel-Hamas war. Its attacks have stopped with the ceasefire in the war, but transits through the Suez Canal, crucial to Egypt’s economy, halved during its campaign.