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By Flynn Nicholls
US News Reporter
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Donald Trump is facing backlash after he suggested Saturday "we just clean out" the Gaza Strip, with critics accusing the president of supporting ethnic cleansing.
Speaking on Air Force One, Trump told reporters that Egypt and Jordan should accept the Palestinian refugees who would be displaced by the plan.
"You're talking about probably a million and a half people, and we just clean out that whole thing and say, 'You know, it's over,'" Trump said.
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Newsweek has contacted the White House for comment.
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Why It Matters
Less than a fortnight ago, Hamas and Israel reached a tenuous ceasefire amid the longest and deadliest-ever war in the Gaza Strip.
The war began with a Hamas-led surprise attack on October 7, 2023 against Israel, killing more than 1,200. Since then, Israel had been relentlessly bombing Gaza. Hamas-run health authorities say over 44,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's campaign, which some critics have characterized as genocide.
What To Know
In a 20-minute question-and-answer session with reporters, Trump suggested a "clean out" of Palestinians from Gaza.
"But it's literally a demolition site right now," the president said. "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."
Trump decided to lift a Biden-era hold on sending 2,000-pound bombs to Israel, asserting that the weapons were purchased and overdue for delivery.
Last Monday, on his first day in office, he said, "I looked at a picture of Gaza, Gaza is like a massive demolition site … It's got to be rebuilt in a different way."
What People Are Saying
Several historians, journalists, and political commentators took to social media to call Trump's plan 'ethnic cleansing.' Merriam Webster defines the term as "the expulsion, imprisonment, or killing of an ethnic minority by a dominant majority in order to achieve ethnic homogeneity."
Assal Rad, Middle East historian and foreign policy analyst, posted on X, formerly Twitter: "Does no one in the media know what it's called when you 'clean out' an ethnic group and expel them from their land? 'Trump Calls For Ethnic Cleansing of Palestinians From Gaza,' that is your headline."
Itamar Ben Gvir, the chairman of Israel's far-right Otzma Yehudit party, wrote on X: "Congratulations to US President Trump on the initiative to transfer residents from Gaza to Jordan and Egypt. One of our demands from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to encourage voluntary immigration, and when the president of the world's largest power, Trump, himself raises the idea, it would be wise for the Israeli government to implement it - encourage immigration now!"
Rory Stewart, former British Conservative MP and political podcast host, wrote on X: "Trump is quite different from almost all previous leaders since the early Middle Ages. He does not even pretend—with Greenland or Gaza or international aid—to be acting for just reasons. The impact of this naked abuse of power will be staggering."
Aaron Astor, historian, wrote on X: "I'm genuinely curious how Arab nations are going to respond to Trump on this. He's literally calling for the expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza."
Afshin Rattansi, journalist, commented on X: "The rest of the world sees that a better plan would be to stop Israel's genocidal colonialism and allow Palestinians to live peacefully on the land that they have lived on for generations."
Omar Baddar, progressive political analyst, wrote on X: "President Trump is now openly & explicitly calling for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza. Make no mistake: Trump wants to help Israel complete the erasure of Palestine, & the liquidation of the Palestinian struggle for freedom & justice."
Tommy Vietor, a former Barack Obama staffer turned podcaster, wrote on X: "Two things can be true: 1) Biden's Gaza policy was a disaster and made people feel like it was impossible to vote for him, 2) voting for Trump in protest was a catastrophic mistake."
What Happens Next
Despite concerns on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Gaza, the ceasefire and steady influx of aid provides much-needed relief to the population, while international efforts continue to address the region's severe humanitarian crisis.
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