Trump's plans for a 'riviera of the Middle East' in Gaza condemned

President Donald Trump’s announcement that he was planning to seize control of the Gaza Strip and oust 2.2 million Palestinians, temporarily at least, has provoked shock and disbelief around the world.

LONDON — President Donald Trump’s unprecedented announcement that he was planning to seize control of the Gaza Strip and oust 2.2 million Palestinians, temporarily at least, has provoked shock and disbelief around the world, with some officials and analysts saying it would be tantamount to ethnic cleansing.

Many wonder whether it’s even practically possible, instead suggesting it might be more a diplomatic gambit or a distraction technique rather than an actual policy plan.

Regardless of its intention or viability, the alleged plan to transform the war-ravaged Palestinian enclave on Israel’s western flank into the “Riviera of the Middle East” has been condemned outside of far-right circles in Israel and the United States.

“This is the most foolish idea any American president has put forth in the modern history of the United States,” said Fawaz Gerges, a veteran Middle East expert and professor at the London School of Economics. “It is beyond any kind of rational thinking, any kind of policy feasibility.”

A rally against Trump's plan to take over Gaza near the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, South Korea, on Wednesday.Chung Sung-Jun / Getty ImagesThe announcement prompted dismay among senior officials and diplomats at a private event in Washington on Tuesday evening. Multiple sources noticed two prominent Arab ambassadors leaving immediately when Trump made his comments, which people were listening to on their phones in real time. 

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/trumps-gaza-israel-plans-riviera-rcna190748

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