US top diplomat Rubio backs Trump plan on US takeover of Gaza

By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio late on Tuesday appeared to back President Donald Trump's plan for a U.S. takeover of Gaza, saying the Palestinian enclave must be free from Islamist group Hamas.

Trump on Tuesday proposed a U.S. takeover of Gaza where Israel's military assault in the last 16 months has killed tens of thousands, after he earlier suggested that Palestinians in the enclave should be permanently displaced. The idea was condemned by experts and rights advocates.

Trump's earlier comments that Palestinians should move to Egypt and Jordan were already rejected publicly by Palestinian leaders and leaders of the Arab world while being condemned by human rights advocates as amounting to a proposal of ethnic cleansing.

"Gaza MUST BE FREE from Hamas. As @POTUS shared today, the United States stands ready to lead and Make Gaza Beautiful Again," Rubio said on X. "Our pursuit is one of lasting peace in the region for all people."

While Trump had floated suggestions of Palestinian displacement since Jan. 25, statements issued since by Rubio's State Department on its websites after the top U.S. diplomat's subsequent calls with regional leaders did not explicitly mention Trump's suggestion.

Trump did not offer much detail is his Tuesday proposal. Rubio's post also did not elaborate further.

U.S. ally Israel's military assault on Gaza has killed over 47,000 Palestinians in the last 16 months, according to the Gaza health ministry, and led to accusations of genocide and war crimes that Israel denies.

The assault internally displaced nearly Gaza's entire population and caused a hunger crisis. The fighting has currently paused amid a fragile ceasefire.

The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 and taking some 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Stephen Coates)