Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid has rejected US President Donald Trump’s plan for the Gaza Strip, but said he would support Palestinians leaving the occupied territory “if they want to”, according to Israeli media.
Trump last week outlined a highly controversial plan for post-war Gaza, condemned across the world, which would involve the US taking over the occupied territory and expelling the Palestinian population.
Lapid on Monday appeared to reject the widely-held interpretation of Trump’s words that this would entail the ethnic cleansing of Gaza, saying he would only support Palestinians leaving the enclave “voluntarily”, according to The Times of Israel.
“I’m against transfer and expulsion by force,” he said.
Last week, Lapid appeared to avoid directly commenting on the Trump Gaza vision, saying he will have to “study the details to understand what the plan is”.
But he also supported phase 2 of the Gaza ceasefire truce and normalisation of relations with Saudi Arabia, both of which would be unlikely to happen if Trump’s ‘ethnic cleansing’ plan comes to fruition.
“The role of the Israeli leadership is to present plans, not just wait for the Americans,” he added.
Gaza has been utterly devastated after 15 months of Israeli bombing, with little infrastructure remaining and hundreds of thousands of Palestinians with nowhere to live due to the destruction, while tens of thousands were killed.
Trump’s solution has been for Gaza natives to leave their homes and seek a new life overseas, with Egypt and Jordan touted by the president as possible locations for their expulsion, while the US re-develops to coastal enclave.
On Monday, despite the anger from his allies, Trump doubled down on his plan, saying Palestinians would have no right to return to Gaza once the US-led reconstruction effort was completed.
“No, they wouldn’t, because they’re going to have much better housing,” Trump told Fox News.
“In other words, I’m talking about building a permanent place for them.”
US allies, from Saudi Arabia to the UK, have rejected his plan for Gaza, with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan saying the idea “is not worth discussing”.
Arab countries and the Palestinian Authority say the only solution to the crisis is for Palestinian statehood and the reconstruction of Gaza, allowing them to return home.
