'If some other countries willing to step forward and do it themselves, then that would be great,' says secretary of state
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday that President Donald Trump is trying to "stir" regional countries with economic and technological capacity to take part in rebuilding the Gaza Strip post-conflict.
Speaking at a news conference alongside Dominican President Luis Abinader, Rubio defended Trump's controversial Gaza proposal to “take over” the enclave while describing Gaza as uninhabitable due to the destruction caused by the war and the presence of unexploded munitions.
"I think President Trump has offered to go in and be a part of that solution. And if some other countries willing to step forward and do it themselves, then that would be great. But no one seems to be rushing forward to do that. And that has to happen," he said.
"It seems to me that there are a lot of countries in the world that like to express concern about Gaza and about the Palestinian people, but very few were willing, in the past, to do anything concrete about it, and so I think President Trump is trying to stir that and hopefully get a reaction from some countries who do have both the economic and technological capacity to contribute to a post-conflict region," he added.
Asked whether Palestinians would be able to return to Gaza, Rubio did not provide a direct answer. Instead, he highlighted the dangers of unexploded ordnance.
"I don't think you want people living next to unexploded munitions and weapons depots that have been left behind or in place because of what Hamas has done," he said. "So, I think that's just a realistic reality, that in order to fix a place like that, people are going to have to live somewhere else in the interim."
Trump said at a news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday that the US would “take over” Gaza and resettle Palestinians elsewhere under an extraordinary redevelopment plan that he claimed could turn the enclave into “the Riviera of the Middle East.”
He doubled down on his proposal Thursday and said no US soldiers would be needed.
The proposal has been widely condemned by world leaders.
