Palestinians, Saudis, Egypt, and others reject Trump's plans for US takeover of Gaza
Newshour
BBC
4.4 • 984 Ratings
🗓️ 5 February 2025
⏱️ 47 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
There's been international condemnation of plans by US President Donald Trump to seize control of Gaza. He said he wants the US to take a "long-term ownership position" and turn it into the "Riviera of the Middle East", while Palestinians could be resettled in other countries. We have reactions from a Palestinian representative in London and a former Israeli official.
Also in the programme: The spiritual leader of Ismaili Muslims worldwide, the Aga Khan, has died in Portugal at the age of eighty- eight; and the new study which shows people usually feel their best in the mornings.
(Picture: US President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference at the White House in Washington on 4th February, 2025. Credit: JIM LO SCALZO/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to NewsHour on the BBC World Service. I'm Celia Hatton, and I'm coming to you |
| 0:08.6 | live from London. We'll start with the most significant change to Washington's policy towards |
| 0:15.3 | the Middle East in decades. Donald Trump has outlined many jaw-dropping plans in the first two weeks of his presidency, |
| 0:23.9 | including his desires to retake the Panama Canal by Greenland and possibly expand into Canada. |
| 0:31.6 | But his plan to transform war-torn Gaza into the Riviera of the Middle East is in a league of its own. |
| 0:38.7 | At a press conference at the White House, Mr. Trump said the U.S. intends to take possession |
| 0:43.8 | of the Gaza Strip and floated the idea of planting U.S. troops there. |
| 0:49.1 | He's pushing to permanently resettle Gaza's entire Palestinian population, |
| 0:54.6 | two million people, two other countries. |
| 0:57.6 | With the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, at his side, |
| 1:01.7 | the U.S. President outlined his plans for the territory. |
| 1:05.2 | The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it, too. |
| 1:10.4 | We'll own it, and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous, unexploded bombs and |
| 1:15.9 | other weapons on the site, level the site, and get rid of the destroyed buildings, level it |
| 1:22.4 | out, create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the |
| 1:30.4 | area. He said he wanted to rebuild Gaza into a mecca for jobs and tourism. And I don't want to be |
| 1:38.0 | cute. I don't want to be a wise guy, but the Riviera of the Middle East, this could be something |
| 1:42.6 | that could be so magnificent. |
| 1:46.3 | U.S. officials say the project could take 15 years. |
| 1:50.4 | Benjamin Netanyahu, welcome to the proposal as something that could change history. |
| 1:55.5 | The Israeli leader praised Mr. Trump. |
| 1:57.9 | I've said this before. I'll say it again. |
... |
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