Trump insists on owning Gaza, Hamas up in arms

KABUL (Pajhwok): As US President Donald Trump once again insisted on buying Gaza’s land, Hamas condemned his remarks and said the enclave was not for sale.

Palestinians would not allow their land to be traded, the group said, excoriating the US leader’s preposterous statement.

Trump’s fresh remarks met with widespread condemnation from Arab countries and raised concerns about heightened tensions in the region.

Reuters quoted the US president as telling reports: “I'm committed to buying and owning Gaza. We may give it to other states in the Middle East to build sections of it, other people may do it, through our auspices. But we’re committed to owning it, taking it and making sure that Hamas doesn’t move back.”

He also said the US was open to the immigration of some Palestinians according to their requests on a case-by-case basis.

But a member of the Hamas political bureau, Ezaat El Rashq, condemned Trump’s remarks about owning Gaza.

Rashq said: “Gaza is not a property to be sold and bought. It is an integral part of our occupied Palestinian land and the plan for relocation of Palestinian will fail.”

Before this, Trump revealed his plan for purchasing the land and relocation of Palestinians during a recent trip of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to the US.

In his remarks, the visiting Israeli leader had said the people of Palestine must be relocated to Saudi Arabia.

But the foreign ministers of some Arab countries, such as Qatar, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Palestine warned in a joint statement that such a move would destabilise the region and pave the way for new wars.

Saudi Arabia and Qatar slammed the remarks of Netanyahu, saying the Palestinians in Gaza were not migrants. They asked Israel to vacate their land, calling the relocation plan a blatant violation of international law.

aw/mud