Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu smiled while Trump laid out the orders for Gaza's future on Tuesday evening.
We're going to own it, the American president stated firmly.
The move is extremely remarkable, according to Pål Wrange, professor of international law at Stockholm University. In practice, Trump is talking about colonizing Gaza, he notes.
Neither the USA nor Israel has the right to take over Gaza. However many resolutions as possible in the UN Security Council have established that the Palestinians have the right to self-determination and the right to form their own state.
"As odd" as the Greenland deal
Wrange compares Trump's Gaza plans to Russia's annexation of Crimea. But not even that was as bizarre, he means.
Legally, there is no greater difference. But there was at least more logic in it since Crimea had belonged to the Russian republic in the Soviet Union until the mid-1950s – and Crimea is close to Russia. Gaza is not close to the USA.
Juridically, there are almost no ways to legally implement what Trump is talking about, according to Jann Kleffner, professor of international law at the Swedish Defence University. One would be if the Palestinians themselves give their consent; the other if the Security Council adopts a binding resolution. Neither is likely or politically sustainable, he says.
Legally, this is at least as odd as saying they're going to own Greenland.
"International hub"
Tuesday's statement – like previous Trump proposals to move all Gaza residents to Jordan or Egypt – sets the fundamental rules for human rights out of play, says Kleffner.
It's flagrant. It's in open conflict with many of the most fundamental principles and rules of international law, such as the right to self-determination, the prohibition of forced displacement and deportation, territorial integrity, and the prohibition of annexation.
During the press conference in Washington, Trump aimed for long-term American ownership of Gaza. Regarding who might live in Gaza in the future, he did not rule out Palestinians, but claimed that the area would become an "international hub".
The most benevolent interpretation is that Trump wants the Palestinians to live somewhere else while the war-torn Gaza is rebuilt, says Pål Wrange.
The Palestinians are of course free to invite Americans or other investors to create a "Middle Eastern Riviera". But Trump doesn't seem to see many Palestinians there in the future.
Gaza is located at the southeastern corner of the Mediterranean. Apart from the sea, the area borders Egypt in the southwest and is otherwise surrounded by Israel.
The population of Gaza has been estimated to be over two million people.
The area was part of the Ottoman Empire for several hundred years, later under British control (1918–48), and after that, in practice, under Egypt. Israel took Gaza in possession in connection with the Six-Day War in 1967.
According to the Oslo Agreement from 1993, Israel should allow the Palestinian Authority, which today leads the limited self-government on the West Bank, some self-government in Gaza. But after a power struggle in 2006–2007, the hardline Islamist Hamas took over the government instead.
Since then, Israel has maintained a blockade against the area, and Egypt has also treated Gaza restrictively. The talks about a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians have largely stalled.
Several wars have raged through the years. The current one, which began after Hamas' extensive terrorist attack against Israel on October 7, 2023, is the bloodiest so far.
