Anger flares on social media over Trump plan to 'take over' and 'own' Gaza
Thousands of people have taken to social media to slam President Donald Trump after he announced that the US could "take over" the Gaza Strip and transform it into a “holiday hub” without Palestinians.
“The US will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too. We'll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site," he said during a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, adding that he viewed the US as having a "a long-term ownership position".
He also said that the enclave could be turned into a "Riviera of the Middle East".
Social media users said the statements were an open call for the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and underscored the "settler-colonial" and "imperial" nature of American and Israeli policies towards Palestine.
"We all knew that genocide and ethnic cleansing were as American as apple pie, but this is truly a mask-off moment," said one user on X, formerly known as Twitter, adding that Trump's statement symbolised a policy of "raw, naked imperialism".
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Human rights lawyer Craig Mokhiber wrote: "Trump, with the fugitive Netanyahu at his side, has announced that the US will no longer merely play a supporting role in the genocidal ethnic cleansing of Palestine, but it will now lead the extermination effort with US boots on the ground, beginning with a US takeover of Gaza."
The deportation or forcible transfer of a civilian population in whole or part is a war crime under international humanitarian law, and when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against civilians, it amounts to a crime against humanity.
Stop, stop this world, I want to get off. “The riviera of the Middle East.” He’s talking about building a playground for billionaires (on top of the mass graves!!) after evicting the people whose land it is. I feel sick. https://t.co/JYeD5pdzf3
— Maria Aristodemou (@maariaris) February 5, 2025
"We must think about what Israel/US will do to carry out their ethnic cleansing programme," warned Palestinian lawyer Diana Buttu. "Fifteen months of genocide may be the beginning."
Others shared clips of Trump's describing Gaza as a "terrible" site of "death and destruction and rubble and demolished buildings falling all over" and highlighted Israel's 15-month assault on the Strip as the reason behind the destruction.
Settler colonial genocides have different phases. The act of killing en masse and making a land unliveable is one phase, followed by complete displacement of the indigenous inhabitants and repopulation. Trump is ready to be part of the new phase. pic.twitter.com/qj20IZglmo
— Nicola Perugini (@PeruginiNic) February 5, 2025
"This is pure gaslighting. Talking about Gaza as a demolition site and that living there is a hell as if that's not caused by Israel with [the] help of the US. THEY bombed Gaza to pieces, killing tens of thousands of people!" said one user.
One user wrote: "It’s not just that the world’s most powerful man is making the ethnic cleansing of an entire people some sort of diktat. By calling the whole of Gaza a 'demolition site', he is acknowledging - by definition - that Israel has committed an abominable crime.
The destruction of Gaza, backed by Joe Biden, gave Trump the pretense for an ethnic cleansing campaign.
— Briahna Joy Gray (@briebriejoy) February 5, 2025
They worked together to perform a genocide. https://t.co/yakzRhwEkU
About 69 percent of the structures in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed according to a December estimate by the UN, and could take decades to rebuild.
We just watched the president of the United States advocate ethnic cleansing on live television and nobody even blinked.
— Chris Walker (@ChrisWalkerCBC) February 4, 2025
While some social media users in the US praised Trump's plan as an economic and political opportunity, others expressed frustration with what they said was the outsized influence of Israel on US politics.
“Netanyahu is playing with fire. He humiliated America today," journalist Cenk Uygur wrote.
"He made Trump look like his servant. Mainstream media can spin it all they like, but the American people are waking up to the fact that no matter which party wins, Israel stays in charge. We're growing tired of this.”
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