"This position reflects an understanding of the need to prevent further deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the importance of finding fair, sustainable solutions to the Palestinian issue," said Egypt's foreign ministry, per Fox News.
It was in February that Trump announced plans for the US to take over Gaza in a plan that could have been inspired by the Hebrew Testament's King Solomon, who notoriously suggested the "split the baby" concept to two moms arguing over who a baby belonged to.
"The US will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it, too," Trump had said. "We'll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous, unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site."
Arab leaders in March had said that they backed a $53 million reconstruction plan, to be led by Egypt. The White House, however, was not on board, with National Security Spokesman Brian Hughes saying that the plan did "not address the reality that Gaza is currently uninhabitable and residents cannot humanely live in a territory covered in debris and unexploded ordinance."
Gaza has been at the center of turmoil for decades, but most recently served as the launching point for Hamas terrorists who, in the early morning hours of October 7, 2023, attacked Israel, killing men, women, and children. They slaughtered 1,200 people and took over 200 hostage. Hamas terrorists who rule Gaza are still holding 59 hostages, many of them believed to be dead.
Israel, which went to war with Hamas after the attack, has decimated the region in an attempt to destroy all terrorists and terror facilities there. The civilian population, which elected the political wing of Hamas to lead them in 2006 after a bloody civil war with a rival political faction, has been displaced.
Neighboring nations Jordan and Egypt have both declined to take in Palestinian refugees, fearing that this will lead to terrorism on their own soil. In a show of support for Trump, Jordan recently agreed to take in 2,000 sick Palestinian children in need of care.
Of the refugees at that time, Trump said "we're moving them to a beautiful location where they have new homes, where they can live safely, where they'll have doctors and medical and all of those things and I think it's going to be great." He told Fox News that this was the plan he would recommend, though no one was obligated to go along with it.
When Trump made his remarks in February, he had said that the nearly 2 million Gazans would be "permanently" relocated. His position on Thursday marks a change in perspective.
