15h ago 02.43 EST Reuters has some more detail on the comments by Iranian government spokesperson, Fatemeh Mohajerani, which we reported on earlier. “Our foreign policy has always been driven by the following principles: dignity for our country and people, wisdom and interest,” Mohajerani said during a press conference, when asked to react to Donald Trump’s willingness to hold talks with his Iranian counterpart. She added: “Wisdom means looking behind the scenes and having correct understanding of them.” On Tuesday, Trump restored his “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran that included efforts to drive its oil exports down to zero in order to stop Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. As he signed the presidential memorandum, Trump described it as tough and said he was torn on whether to make the move. He added he was open to a deal with Iran and expressed a willingness to talk to Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian. Share Updated at 05.29 EST
15h ago 02.31 EST Emma Graham-Harrison Far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has threatened to quit the government if war does not resume in Gaza, has also thanked Donald Trump in a post on X. Share
16h ago 02.21 EST Emma Graham-Harrison Far-right politician Itamar Ben Gvir, who resigned from the Israeli government to protest against the Gaza ceasefire deal, has giving US president Donald Trump’s plan his support. In a statement, he said: President Trump says very important things: The only solution to Gaza is to encourage the migration of Gazans. When I said this time and again during the war that this was the solution to Gaza, they mocked me. Now it is clear: this is the only solution to the Gaza problem – this is the strategy for the “day after”. I call on the prime minister to announce the adoption of the plan as soon as possible and to begin immediate practical progress.” Share
16h ago 02.14 EST Iran’s foreign policy is driven by the principles of “dignity … wisdom and interest”, government spokesperson, Fatemeh Mohajerani, said on Wednesday, in response to US president Donald Trump saying that Washington would contact Tehran. Share Updated at 02.33 EST
16h ago 01.58 EST Interim summary If you are just tuning into today’s developments and Trump’s extraordinary remarks about the US setting its sights on Gaza, here is what you need to know to quickly bring you up to speed. Trump has declared that the US will ‘take over’ the Gaza Strip, and that he envisioned a “long-term” US ownership of the territory after all Palestinians were moved elsewhere. Gaza, he said, could be transformed into the ‘ Riviera of the Middle East’. The US president did not explain how and under what authority the US could assume control of Gaza. “We will own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site,” he said. He said the US would “level” destroyed buildings and “create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area.”
The Saudi government, in a statement, stressed its rejection of any attempt to displace Palestinians from their land and said it would not establish relations with Israel without establishment of a Palestinian state. Meanwhile Hamas condemned Trump’s calls for Palestinians in Gaza to leave as “expulsion from their land”. One Hamas figure described the remarks as ‘absurd’ and ‘ridiculous’, while the Palestinian envoy to the United Nations said that world leaders and people should respect Palestinians’ desire to remain in Gaza.
Several Democrats slammed Trump’s plan with Democratic senator Chris Murphy saying of Trump: “He’s totally lost it.” Democratic representative Jake Auchincloss described the proposal as “reckless and unreasonable” and called for an examination of Trump’s motives, which he said often contained a “ nepotistic, self-serving connection ”.
Some Republicans have also derided the proposal. Justin Amash, a former Republican member of Congress whose father was expelled from his home by Israeli forces in 1948, was appalled. “If the United States deploys troops to forcibly remove Muslims and Christians – like my cousins – from Gaza, then not only will the US be mired in another reckless occupation but it will also be guilty of the crime of ethnic cleansing. No American of good conscience should stand for this.”
The US president called Gaza a “symbol of death and destruction” and that the only reason people want to go back there is because they have nowhere else to go . The 1.8 million Palestinians living in Gaza should move to neighbouring countries with “humanitarian hearts” and “great wealth”, Trump said. Earlier he had called for Jordan, Egypt and other Arab states to take in Palestinians. He said they could be split up across a number of separate sites. Forced displacement of the population would probably be a violation of international law and would be fiercely opposed not only in the region but also by Washington’s western allies. Some human rights advocates liken the idea to ethnic cleansing.
He went on to say that Gaza could become “the Riviera of the Middle East” where “the world’s people” could live there, echoing the previous sentiments of his son-in-law Jared Kushner, who said Gaza had very valuable “waterfront property”.
Trump gave a vague answer when asked a question on whether he supported a two-state solution. Asked if his view that Palestinians should be relocated from Gaza was a sign that he was against the two-state policy that has been the foreign policy approach of the United States for decades, Trump said no. “It doesn’t mean anything about a two-state or one state or any other state. It means that we want to have, we want to give people a chance at life,” he said. “They have never had a chance at life because the Gaza Strip has been a hellhole for people living there. It’s been horrible.”
Trump claimed high-level support among unnamed leaders he had spoken to. “This is not a decision made lightly,” he said, adding that “everybody I’ve spoken to loves the idea of the United States owning that piece of land.” He said the move would bring “great stability to that part of the Middle East”.
Trump did not rule out sending US troops to secure Gaza. “As far as Gaza is concerned, we’ll do what is necessary. If it’s necessary, we’ll do that,” he said. On Trump’s idea of taking over Gaza, Netanyahu said the US president “sees a different future for Gaza”, adding: “I think it’s something that could change history.”
Trump said he would probably announce a position on Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank in the next month. “ We haven’t been taking the position on it yet,” he said. Trump added that he planned to visit the Gaza Strip, Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Netanyahu described Trump as “the greatest friend Israel has ever had in the White House”. The Israeli leader said “we have to finish the job in Gaza”, and said “Israel will end the war by winning the war.” Netanyahu praised Trump for “thinking outside the box with fresh ideas” and “showing willingness to puncture conventional thinking”. Share
16h ago 01.52 EST Welcome to Trumpworld, a political sketch The Guardian’s David Smith has put together this sketch of the mood in the White House today. “The venerable East Room, where Abraham Lincoln lay in state and Pablo Casals played cello, had turned into a mosh pit. Sweaty reporters, photographers and camera crews were crammed elbow to elbow. The Guardian shoehorned its way into a corner where a panel had fallen off the wall. Never used to happened in Joe Biden’s day. The president began by boasting about how he got a “beautiful” US embassy built in Jerusalem, ranting about his predecessor and giving a shout out to his staff. So far, so Trump. But then things turned weird. Very weird.” Read his first-person account of the day below: Welcome to Trumpworld, where the developer-in-chief sees dollar signs in the rubble of Gaza Read more Share
16h ago 01.45 EST A better life ‘not necessarily tied to the physical space’ says US Middle East envoy US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff tells Fox News that Trump’s Gaza plans would give Palestinians “more hope” for a better future. Speaking to host Sean Hannity, Witkoff said Gaza would probably be “inhabitable” for the next 10-15 years. “Everybody wants to see peace in the region… A better life is not necessarily tied to the physical space that you’re in today. A better life is about better opportunity, better financial conditions, better aspirations for you and your family. “That doesn’t occur because you get to pitch a tent in the Gaza Strip and you’re surrounded by 30,000 munitions that could go off at any moment. It’s a dangerous place to live today and the president is saying, ‘let’s make it better for these people.’” Share
17h ago 01.26 EST Israel’s former national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir hails Trump’s plan “Donald, this looks like the beginning of a beautiful friendship,” the Israeli far-right politician wrote on X after Trump’s shock remarks. Share
17h ago 01.08 EST Helen Sullivan Trump’s comments on Tuesday were not the first time he has suggested turning the home of 1.8 million Palestinians into a business opportunity for developers. They echo comments he made during his presidential campaign, and that is his son in law and former White House adviser, Jared Kushner, made in March last year.
Kushner praised the “very valuable” potential of Gaza’s “waterfront property” and suggested Israel should remove civilians while it “cleans up” the strip. The Guardian’s Patrick Wintour reported the comments on 19 March 2024. Trump repeated the sentiments while campaigning in late 2024. On 7 October 2024, the one-year anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel, Trump told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, “They’d have, there was no ocean as far as that was concerned. They never took advantage of it. You know, as a developer, it could be the most beautiful place – the weather, the water, the whole thing, the climate.” Hewitt had asked Trump if Gaza “could be Monaco” and Trump said it could be “better than Monaco”.
Bernie Sanders warned undecided voters in October, saying, “Trump has said Netanyahu is doing a good job and has said Biden is ‘holding him back.’ He has suggested that the Gaza Strip would make excellent beachfront property for development. And it is no wonder than Netanyahu prefers to have Donald Trump in office.” Kushner, a former property dealer who is married to Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka, made his comments in an interview at Harvard University on 15 February 2024.
Kushner said at the time that he thought Israel should move civilians from Gaza to the Negev desert in southern Israel. He said that if he were in charge of Israel his number one priority would be getting civilians out of the southern city of Rafah, and that “with diplomacy” it could be possible to get them into Egypt. “But in addition to that, I would just bulldoze something in the Negev, I would try to move people in there,” he said. “I think that’s a better option, so you can go in and finish the job.” He reiterated the point a little later, saying: “I do think right now opening up the Negev, creating a secure area there, moving the civilians out, and then going in and finishing the job would be the right move.” Share