Donald Trump, Benjamin Netanyahu back Gaza relocation plan amid ceasefire talks

WASHINGTON: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met US President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday, with both leaders reiterating their controversial proposal to relocate Palestinians from Gaza to other countries--a move that critics have condemned as forced transfer, Al Jazeera reported.

The meeting took place over dinner in the Blue Room as indirect US-backed negotiations between Israel and Hamas continued in Qatar for a potential 60-day ceasefire to halt the ongoing 21-month war in Gaza.

"We're working with the United States very closely about finding countries that will seek to realise what they always say, that they wanted to give the Palestinians a better future. I think we're getting close to finding several countries," Netanyahu said.

"If people want to stay, they can stay, but if they want to leave, they should be able to leave. It shouldn't be a prison. It should be an open place and give people a free choice," he added.

Trump, who earlier sparked backlash for suggesting Gaza be turned into a "Riviera of the Middle East," reiterated his support for the idea and said, "So something good will happen.

He also claimed there had been "great cooperation" from neighbouring countries on the matter.

"This is something the Israelis have been saying for some time, calling it the 'voluntary migration' of Palestinians from their homelands. But of course, this has been condemned as ethnic cleansing," Al Jazeera correspondent Hamdah Salhut reported from Amman, Jordan.

Former Israeli diplomat Alon Pinkas told Al Jazeera that despite repeated public statements about relocation, there is no clear or actionable plan. "The fact that the Israeli defence minister blurts some ideas out, or even the prime minister, or even the president of the United States, doesn't mean there is a plan," he said. (ANI)

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