US would make Gaza a 'freedom zone', Trump says in Qatar

By Gram Slattery

DOHA (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Thursday reiterated his desire to take over the Gaza Strip, telling a business roundtable in Qatar that the U.S. would "make it a freedom zone" and arguing there was nothing left to save in the Palestinian territory.

Trump first pitched his Gaza idea in February, saying the U.S. would redevelop it and force Palestinians to go elsewhere. The plan drew global condemnation, with Palestinians, Arab nations and the U.N. saying it would amount to ethnic cleansing.

Most of Gaza's 2.3 million population is internally displaced as Israel presses a military assault that has killed nearly 53,000 Palestinians and ravaged much of the enclave. Israel began its assault after the October 2023 Hamas attack.

Speaking to a group of officials and business leaders in Qatar, which has hosted Hamas' political office in Doha for years, Trump said he has "concepts for Gaza that I think are very good: Make it a freedom zone, let the United States get involved".

Trump said he had seen "aerial shots where, I mean, there's practically no building standing. It's not like you're trying to save something. There's no buildings. People are living under the rubble of buildings that collapsed, which is not acceptable."

"I want to see that (Gaza) be a freedom zone. And if it's necessary, I think I'd be proud to have the United States have it, take it, make it a freedom zone. Let some good things happen."

Trump has previously said he wants to turn Gaza into the "Riviera of the Middle East."

Palestinians vehemently reject any plan involving them leaving Gaza, comparing such ideas to the 1948 "Nakba," or "catastrophe," when hundreds of thousands were dispossessed of their homes in the war that led to the creation of Israel. Many say they would rather live in the ruins of their homes.

Direct U.S. involvement in Gaza would draw Washington deeper into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and potentially mark its biggest Middle East intervention since its 2003 Iraq invasion. Many Americans view foreign entanglements with skepticism.

Israel invaded Gaza in retaliation for the Hamas-led attack on southern Israeli communities on October 7, 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken as hostages to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

Earlier this month, Israel approved expanded offensive plans against Hamas that might include seizing the Strip and controlling aid. At least 70 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes on Thursday, medics said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described Trump's idea as "a bold vision," and has said that he and the U.S. president have discussed which countries might be willing to take Palestinians who leave Gaza.

(Reporting by Gram Slattery; writing by Rami Ayyub; Editing by Alistair Bell)