🔴 Live: Iran rejects ‘shocking’ Trump plan to ‘forcibly displace’ Palestinians from Gaza

Israeli defense minister instructs army to prepare a plan to allow Gaza residents to leave the enclave

Israeli defense minister Israel Katz ordered the army on Thursday to prepare a plan to allow for the departure of Gaza residents from the strip, Israeli media reported.

The instruction followed US President Donald Trump’s announcement that the US plans to take over Gaza and resettle the Palestinians living there.

Netanyahu offers support to Trump’s plan to displace Palestinians in Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday there was nothing wrong in Donald Trump’s idea of displacing Palestinians from Gaza after the US president’s proposal drew international criticism.

Rights groups have condemned as ethnic cleansing Trump’s suggestion the previous day that Palestinians in the enclave should be permanently displaced, while also proposing a US takeover of Gaza.

In an interview with Fox News, Netanyahu did not explicitly talk about Trump’s idea of the United States taking over the Gaza Strip but backed the idea of “allowing Gazans who want to leave to leave.”

He added, “I mean, what’s wrong with that? They can leave, they can then come back, they can relocate and come back. But you have to rebuild Gaza.”

Trump aides defend Gaza takeover proposal but walk back some elements

President Donald Trump’s top aides staunchly defended his push to transfer Palestinians out of Gaza and have the US take over the war-ruined enclave, but they also backed away from elements of his proposal in the face of international condemnation.

A longtime New York property developer, Trump drew rebukes on Wednesday from world powers Russia, China and Germany, which said it would foster “new suffering and new hatred.”

Regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia rejected the proposal outright.

Iran rejects US plan to ‘forcibly displace’ Palestinians from Gaza

Iran’s foreign ministry rejected Thursday what it called a “shocking” plan laid out by US President Donald Trump to take over Gaza and “forcibly displace” Palestinians from the coastal territory.

“The plan to clear Gaza and forcibly displace the Palestinian people to neighbouring countries is considered a continuation of the Zionist regime’s (Israel) targeted plan to completely annihilate the Palestinian nation, and is categorically rejected and condemned,” said foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei.

West Bank healthcare in dire state, says MSF

The healthcare system in the occupied West Bank has been in “a state of perpetual emergency” since October 2023, the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) group said in a new report published on Thursday.

“A dramatic escalation in violence, marked by prolonged Israeli military incursions and stricter movement restrictions… have severely hindered access to essential services, particularly healthcare, exacerbating already dire living conditions for many Palestinians,” it said.

• US President Donald Trump has not committed to putting US troops on the ground in Gaza as part of his proposal for a US takeover of the Palestinian enclave, the White House said on Wednesday.
• President Donald Trump told White House reporters Wednesday that “everybody loves” his proposal to take over control of the Gaza Strip and own it “long term”, after he had earlier suggested that displaced Palestinians could be resettled elsewhere.
• Trump made his shock announcement at a joint news conference with Israel’s Binyamin Netanyahu, who praised the US president for “thinking outside the box”.
• The proposal immediately sparked global condemnation, with US allies Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt rejecting the displacement of Palestinians and reiterating their calls for a two-state solution.