Reem Cohen
INSS Insight No. 1948, Feb. 17, 2025
“The fact that the initiative originates from the United States rather than Israel reduces legal complexities and could make it easier to gain international support.”
The Gaza Strip is one of the most densely populated and complex areas in the world, home to over 2.1 million people. Even before the onset of the war on October 7, 2023, Gaza faced a prolonged economic, social, and humanitarian crisis. High demographic pressure, an 80% unemployment rate, and dependence on foreign aid made Gaza a difficult place to live. The war that began on October 7, 2023, exacerbated these issues, causing widespread destruction of infrastructure. Against this backdrop, President Trump’s proposal to transfer residents from Gaza to other countries—including Egypt, Jordan, Albania, and Indonesia—marks a shift in the approach to resolving the crisis in the war-torn region. The idea is to create mechanisms that will allow residents to leave Gaza in an orderly manner while ensuring their rights and facilitating Gaza’s reconstruction, all while removing the burden of having to provide housing and humanitarian aid to hundreds of thousands of displaced Gazans. This proposal raises important questions regarding its political, economic, and legal feasibility, as well as its potential regional and international implications.
President Trump’s Proposal
US President Donald Trump’s proposal to resettle Palestinian refugees from the Gaza Strip in neighboring countries—specifically Egypt and Jordan (and even more distant countries such as Albania and Indonesia)—has sparked extensive debate in both the international and regional arenas. Trump stated that he had spoken with King Abdullah II of Jordan about the possibility of his country accepting Palestinian refugees and had also discussed the issue with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. According to Trump, the situation in Gaza is a “mess” and “something has to happen. But it’s literally a demolition site right now. Almost everything’s demolished, and people are dying there. So I’d rather get involved with some of the Arab nations and build housing in a different location where they can maybe live in peace for a change.”
Furthermore, in his meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on February 4, 2025, Trump proposed an initiative whereby all residents of the Gaza Strip would be resettled in other countries. He stated that the United States would take responsibility for clearing bombs and debris from Gaza and would work toward economic development that would provide jobs and housing. He even suggested that the United States assume long-term control over the Gaza Strip to promote stability in the Middle East. Netanyahu called the idea “out-of-the-box thinking.” ...SOURCE