Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s Special Envoy to the Middle East said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” Sunday that “people don’t belong living” in the besieged Gaza Strip for “at least 15 years.”
Addressing reporter Margaret Brennan’s questions about Palestinians’ right to return to Gaza, Witkoff emphasized that the Strip was uninhabitable.
“Level setting the facts suggest that nobody can really live [in Gaza] in a safe environment for probably at least 15 years,” Witkoff said. “And so there's a lot of work that has to be done there. There's tons of demolition, there's artillery shells all over the place that could explode at any moment. This is a much longer project, and people don't belong living there right now.”
"[Trump's] come up with a new notion. And the new notion is, let's create a better opportunity for these, for people who have lived in Gaza to have a better life for themselves, better upside, better aspirations for what can happen for their children and so forth,” Witkoff told Brennan.
Witkoff also stressed that Hamas must be barred from power — and from Gaza. “Hamas cannot be allowed to come back into the government,” Witkoff explained. “They've got to leave, and we're going to — the negotiation will be around that.”
“I would say [Hamas needs to leave] physically,” Witkoff explained. He said that the Trump administration had ideas about where Hamas could go, but could not yet publicly comment on them.
Hamas’ recent shows of strength, brandishing new weapons, uniforms, trucks, and equipment in recent hostage release videos indicate their abject lack of interest in leaving Gaza “physically” anytime soon.
Altogether, Witkoff’s comments parrot Trump’s previously floated Gaza comments from February 4, where he said the U.S. would “take over the Gaza Strip.” The proposal would force the displacement of Palestinians into various Arab nations that since repeatedly rejected the notion. Forced displacement is illegal under international law.
Witkoff did leave the door open for Palestinians’ right to return to Gaza on “Face the Nation,” clarifying, "I'm not sure that anyone has a problem with people — with people returning.” But Trump previously argued in a February 10 Fox News interview that they wouldn’t have the right under his plan.
"No, [Palestinians] wouldn't [have a right of return] because they're going to have much better housing…I'm talking about building a permanent place for them [elsewhere]” Trump had said.
Facing international backlash over what many would consider ethnic cleansing, the Trump administration has publicly walked back parts of the president’s initial Gaza proposal. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, for example, clarified on February 5 that Trump’s plans for Palestinians were for temporary accommodation, rather than permanent relocation. Trump himself said he was “not forcing” his Gaza proposal in a Fox News radio interview Friday.
Witkoff’s “Face the Nation” comments yesterday, however, signal the Trump administration’s commitment to some kind of U.S. Gaza takeover plan, even if some details remain unclear.
