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The White House has sought to assuage fears of a protracted US military intervention in Gaza, insisting Donald Trump’s plan to assume control of the enclave did not necessarily mean putting “boots on the ground”.
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that while the president had made a “historic proposal for the United States to take over Gaza”, he had “not committed” to sending in US troops “just yet”.
“It’s been made very clear to the president that the United States needs to be involved in this rebuilding effort,” she said on Wednesday. “That does not mean boots on the ground in Gaza. It does not mean American taxpayers will be funding this effort.”
Leavitt’s comments come a day after Trump caused uproar in the US and around the world with a proposal that the US should “take control” of the Palestinian enclave and that its entire population of 2.2mn should be resettled.
Leavitt clarified that the enclave’s residents would be “temporarily relocated” while the strip is rebuilt.
The plan provoked a hostile reaction from many in the president’s own party, with some Republicans saying it strayed from his “America First” agenda and longtime criticism of US intervention in “endless” foreign wars.
“I thought we voted for America First,” said Rand Paul, a Republican senator from Kentucky. “We have no business contemplating yet another occupation to doom our treasure and spill our soldiers’ blood.”
Josh Hawley, a Republican senator from Missouri, echoed his concerns. “I don’t know that I think it’s the best use of United States resources to spend a bunch of money in Gaza,” he told the Jewish Insider.
Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator from South Carolina, described the plan as “problematic”. “I think most South Carolinians would probably not be excited about sending Americans to take over Gaza,” he said.
Members of Trump’s cabinet quickly sought to reassure the party and the US public over the proposal, without providing specifics as to how it would work.
Secretary of state Marco Rubio said the president’s proposal was “not meant as a hostile move” but rather as an “offer to rebuild”.
“What he’s very generously offering is the ability of the United States to go in and help with debris removal, help with munitions removal, help with reconstruction, the rebuilding of homes and businesses and things of this nature, so that people can move back in,” he said.
Defense secretary Pete Hegseth said Trump was “willing to think outside the box” on the issue but declined to provide details on whether potential military involvement was under consideration.
“We look forward to working with our allies, our counterparts, both diplomatically and militarily, to look at all options, but we certainly would not get ahead of the president or provide any details about what we may or may not do,” he said.
Democrats, meanwhile, accused Trump of supporting “ethnic cleansing” in the enclave and accused the president of abandoning the needs of American voters to send funds to a distant region.
“He just said that it will be US policy to forcibly displace 2mn Palestinians from the Gaza Strip,” said Chris Van Hollen, a Democratic senator from Maryland. “That is ethnic cleansing by another name.”
Democratic congresswoman Rashida Tlaib said: “He’s perfectly fine cutting off working Americans from federal funds while the funding to the Israeli government continues flowing.”
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