U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Israel late on Saturday on his first journey to the Center East, after a broadly condemned proposal by President Donald Trump to displace Palestinians in Gaza.
Trump first floated the suggestion that Egypt and Jordan ought to absorb Palestinians from Gaza on January 25, a proposal they strongly opposed.
TRUMP’S GAZA RELOCATION PROPOSAL SPARKS HEATED DEBATE AMONG PALESTINIANS: ‘NO LIFE LEFT HERE’
In a shock announcement on February 4, after assembly Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington, Trump proposed resettling Gaza’s 2.2 million Palestinians and the U.S. taking management and possession of the demolished seaside enclave, redeveloping it into the “Riviera of the Center East.”
On February 10, he mentioned Palestinians wouldn’t have the best of return to Gaza underneath his plan, contradicting his personal officers who had prompt Gazans would solely be relocated quickly.
Israel’s International Minister Gideon Sa’ar welcomes U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio as he arrives in Israel, on the primary leg of his Center East journey, in Tel Aviv, Israel, February 15, 2025. (REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/Pool)
The U.S. president’s feedback echoed long-standing Palestinian fears of being completely pushed from their properties and have been labeled as a proposal of ethnic cleaning by some critics.
U.S. ally Israel’s navy assault on Gaza, now paused by a fragile ceasefire, has killed greater than 47,000 Palestinians within the final 16 months, the Gaza well being ministry says, and provoked accusations of genocide and battle crimes that Israel denies.
The assault internally displaced practically all of Gaza’s inhabitants and precipitated a starvation disaster.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The newest bloodshed within the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian battle was triggered on October 7, 2023, when Palestinian Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing 1,200 and taking some 250 hostages, Israeli tallies present.
Rubio will focus on Gaza and the aftermath of the Hamas assault on Israel throughout the journey, and can pursue Trump’s strategy of attempting to disrupt the established order within the area, a State Division official mentioned final week.