“The president has not committed to putting boots on the ground in Gaza," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during the daily press briefing Wednesday.
"He has also said that the United States is not going to pay for the rebuilding of Gaza. His administration is going to work with our partners in the region to reconstruct this region,” she added.
The press secretary was peppered with questions on the topic after Trump said the U.S. would "do what is necessary" when asked during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he was sending U.S. military personnel to secure the Gaza Strip.
Trump rocked U.S.-Middle East policy by announcing he would back the resettlement of Palestinians out of Gaza and a U.S. takeover of the territory, suggesting it could be turned into a “Riviera of the Middle East.”
He was not definitive about whether he believed Palestinians would solely be the ones living in the Gaza Strip, but he said he envisioned a place that would inhabit “the world’s people.”
Netanyahu was aware of Trump’s announcement before he made it public, Leavitt said.
Trump on Tuesday also suggested that Palestinians in Gaza be relocated and settled elsewhere, offering up either one site or a dozen different locations as possibilities.
He also described a potential U.S. takeover of Gaza as “a long-term ownership position.”
Read the full report at TheHill.com.
