‘Non-Negotiable’: Saudi Arabia Blasts Trump’s Gaza Takeover Plan

The international reaction to President Trump’s Tuesday declaration that the US will “take over” the Gaza Strip and that Palestinians would “love to leave” the largely destroyed enclave which has suffered in the midst of the Hamas-Israel war (though a fragile truce has held for a couple week) has been as expected. Various countries have issued condemnation, including predictably from the United Nations chief, given it smacks of ethnic cleansing of a historic territory, though few actual details have been defined in terms of how such a plan involving US troops would be executed.

Saudi Arabia has been one major US regional ally to react swiftly in condemnation. The Saudis have said Wednesday that Trump’s desired ‘normalization’ with Israel based on the Abraham Accords would definitely be off.

Riyadh said the Palestinians must be guaranteed an independent state if were to ever implement diplomatic relations with Israel. “The establishment of the Palestinian state is a firm, unwavering position,” the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs said said on X.

“His Highness [Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman] has affirmed this position in a clear and explicit manner that does not allow for any interpretation under any circumstances.”

“His Highness stressed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will not stop its tireless work towards the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and the Kingdom will not establish diplomatic relations with Israel without that,” the statement continued. 

Needless to say, a permanent removal of Palestinians from Gaza would thwart such a possibility, and other Arab states which have already made peace with Israel might reverse their position, for example the UAE. The Saudis are making clear that this stance is ‘non-negotiable’ – and the reality is that mass displacement of Palestinians to neighboring states would likely collapse the Hamas truce, and halt the ongoing hostage/prisoner exchange.

Russia too is another major power condemning Trump’s Tuesday remarks, with top diplomat Sergei Lavrov arguing that this “culture of cancellation” is at work, suggesting that the US is seeking to ‘cancel’ Palestinian identity.

Lavrov said that UN National Security Council decisions were “were recognized by everyone without exception a month and a half ago as a necessary basis for actions to create a Palestinian state” and have “simply been canceled.”

Arab public opinion is also clear…

Trump said during Netanyahu’s White House visit that the US “will take over” Gaza after relocating Palestinians elsewhere and that a major reconstruction plan in the Strip could turn it into “the Riviera of the Middle East.”

Israeli hardliners in Netanyahu’s cabinet have welcomed these ‘shock’ words. But without Arab capitals, including the Saudis, on board it’s hard to see how it could get off the ground in any practical sense. Hamas would certainly resume fighting, and neighboring Arab militaries could be drawn in. There’s also a continuing truce with Hezbollah which would likely break down.