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Dive deeper into the week’s biggest stories from the Middle East and around the world with The National’s foreign desk. Nuances are often missed in day-to-day headlines. We go Beyond the Headlines by bringing together the voices of experts and those living the news to provide a clearer picture of the region’s shifting political and social landscape.
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Friday Feb 07, 2025
Friday Feb 07, 2025
During a media conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House this week, US President Donald Trump said his country would take ownership of Gaza and turn it into the “Riviera of the Middle East”.
It is not the first time Mr Trump has made provocative statements about Gaza since starting his second term in office, but this may be his most controversial yet. He also claimed that Palestinians did not want to live in Gaza because it was in such a dire state, suggesting that if they had an alternative option, they would leave.
This came after earlier remarks that the enclave should be “cleaned out” and that its population should be displaced into Egypt and Jordan. But both countries, along with other Arab and western states, have strongly rejected any notion of Palestinians being pushed out of their homeland.
Despite global condemnation of Mr Trump's proposal, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has since ordered the army to prepare a plan to allow for the “voluntary” departure of Gaza’s residents.
In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher speaks to Amr Hamzawy, director of the Carnegie Middle East Programme, and Jordanian geopolitical analyst Amer Sabaileh. They discuss the likelihood of Mr Trump executing his plan in Gaza and the challenges it poses for Palestinian statehood, as well as for Egypt, Jordan and the wider region.