Global Reaction to Trump’s Gaza Strip Takeover Plan

President Donald Trump said the United States would take over the Gaza Strip after Palestinians are resettled elsewhere.

Here are some global reactions to the announcement.

SAUDI ARABIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY

"Saudi Arabia rejects any attempts to displace the Palestinians from their land. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has affirmed the kingdom's position in 'a clear and explicit manner' that does not allow for any interpretation under any circumstances."

EGYPT'S FOREIGN MINISTER BADR ABDELATTY

Abdelatty discussed with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa the importance of moving forward with recovery projects in Gaza without Palestinians leaving the Gaza Strip.

PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT MAHMOUD ABBAS AND THE PALESTINIAN LEADERSHIP

Abbas said the Palestinians will not relinquish their land, rights, and sacred sites, and that the Gaza Strip is an integral part of the land of the State of Palestine, along with the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

SENIOR HAMAS OFFICIAL SAMI ABU ZUHRI

"Our people in the Gaza Strip will not allow these plans to pass, and what is required is to end the (Israeli) occupation and aggression against our people, not to expel them from their land."

KREMLIN SPOKESMAN DMITRY PESKOV

Russia believes a settlement in the Middle East is only possible on the basis of a two-state solution.

CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY

"China hopes all parties will take ceasefire and post-conflict governance as an opportunity to bring the Palestinian issue back on the right track of political settlement based on the two-state solution."

TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER HAKAN FIDAN

US President Donald Trump's comments on a plan to take over Gaza are "unacceptable". Any plans leaving Palestinians "out of the equation" would lead to more conflict.

PALESTINE LIBERATION ORGANISATION SECRETARY GENERAL HUSSEIN AL-SHEIKH

"The Palestinian leadership affirms its firm position that the two-state solution, in accordance with international legitimacy and international law, is the guarantee of security, stability and peace."

ISLAMIC JIHAD

"Trump's positions and plans are a dangerous escalation that threaten Arab and regional national security, especially in Egypt and Jordan, which the US administration wants to put in confrontation with the Palestinian people and their rights."

UK ENVIRONMENT MINISTER STEVE REED

"The UK government's position ... is that Palestinian civilians must be able to return to their homes and rebuild their lives. For those people, the last ...months have been a living nightmare, and it's important they're able to go home after this to start to rebuild.

"They'll need a lot of support from the international community to do that, but it's the only way we're going to get to the long-term solution for all of this, and a long-term peace, which is a two-state solution."

AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER ANTHONY ALBANESE

"Australia's position is the same as it was this morning, as it was last year. The Australian government supports on a bipartisan basis a two-state solution."

DEMOCRATIC AND PALESTINIAN-AMERICAN US REPRESENTATIVE RASHIDA TLAIB

"Palestinians aren't going anywhere. This president can only spew this fanatical (expletive) because of bipartisan support in Congress for funding genocide and ethnic cleansing. It's time for my two-state solution colleagues to speak up."

US MUSLIM ADVOCACY GROUP COUNCIL ON AMERICAN ISLAMIC RELATIONS

"Gaza belongs to the Palestinian people, not the United States, and President Trump's call to expel Palestinians from their land is an absolute non-starter."

"If the Palestinian people were ever somehow forcibly expelled from Gaza, this crime against humanity would spark widespread conflict, put the final nail in the coffin of international law, and destroy what remains of our nation's international image and standing."

PAUL O'BRIEN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL USA

"Removing all Palestinians from Gaza is tantamount to destroying them as a people. Gaza is their home. Gaza's death and destruction is a result of the government of Israel killing civilians by the thousands, often with US bombs."

DEMOCRATIC US SENATOR CHRIS MURPHY

"He's totally lost it...A US invasion of Gaza would lead to the slaughter of thousands of US troops and decades of war in the Middle East. It's like a bad, sick joke."

A Syrian government delegation visited a notorious camp in the Kurdish-administered northeast that hosts families of suspected ISIS group members, the new authorities' first visit, both sides said Saturday.

Kurdish-run camps and prisons in the northeast hold tens of thousands of people, many with alleged or perceived links to ISIS, more than five years after the group’s territorial defeat in Syria.

Kurdish administration official Sheikhmous Ahmed said "a tripartite meeting was held on Saturday in the Al-Hol camp" that included a government delegation, another from the US-led international coalition fighting ISIS, and Kurdish administration members.

Al-Hol is northeast Syria's largest camp, housing some 37,000 people from dozens of countries, including 14,500 Iraqis, in dire conditions.

Discussions involved "establishing a mechanism for removing Syrian families from Al-Hol camp", Ahmed said.

The visit comes more than two months after interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Mazloum Abdi, head of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, agreed to integrate the Kurds' civil and military institutions into the national government.

The deal also involved guaranteeing the return of all Syrians to their hometowns and villages.

No progress has yet been reported on the administration's integration into the new government.

In Damascus, interior ministry spokesperson Noureddine al-Baba told reporters Al-Hol is "part of the agreement" signed by Sharaa and Abdi.

He said the issue requires "a comprehensive societal solution for the families who are victims" of ISIS.

In February, the Kurdish administration said that in coordination with the United Nations, it aimed to empty camps in the northeast of thousands of displaced Syrians and Iraqi refugees, including suspected relatives of extremists, by the end of the year.

Al-Hol includes a high-security section for families of foreign ISIS fighters.

Ahmed said the fate of those families "is linked to the countries that have nationals (in the camp), and to the international coalition", which supported Kurdish-led forces who fought ISIS, detaining its fighters and their relatives.

The Kurds have repeatedly called on countries to repatriate their citizens, but foreign governments have allowed home only a trickle, fearing security threats and a domestic political backlash.

It is unclear who will administer prisons holding thousands of ISIS fighters in the northeast, with Abdi saying in February the new authorities wanted them under Damascus's control.

Global Reaction to Trump’s Gaza Strip Takeover Plan