Follow us on social

Steve Witkoff envoy

Trump envoy Witkoff: Gaza uninhabitable for at least 15 years

Says Hamas must physically leave the strip; acknowledges that Palestinians may return

Analysis | QiOSK

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.


Top image credit: Gov. Kathy Hochul, U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, more - "Face the Nation" Full Broadcast, Feb. 23, 2025 (You Tube/Screenshot)
Analysis | QiOSK
Havana, Cuba
Top Image Credit: Havana, Cuba, 2019. (CLWphoto/Shutterstock)

Trump lifted sanctions on Syria. Now do Cuba.

North America

President Trump’s new National Security Presidential Memorandum (NSPM) on Cuba, announced on June 30, reaffirms the policy of sanctions and hostility he articulated at the start of his first term in office. In fact, the new NSPM is almost identical to the old one.

The policy’s stated purpose is to “improve human rights, encourage the rule of law, foster free markets and free enterprise, and promote democracy” by restricting financial flows to the Cuban government. It reaffirms Trump’s support for the 1996 Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act, which explicitly requires regime change — that Cuba become a multiparty democracy with a free market economy (among other conditions) before the U.S. embargo will be lifted.

keep readingShow less
SPD Germany Ukraine
Top Photo: Lars Klingbeil (l-r, SPD), Federal Minister of Finance, Vice-Chancellor and SPD Federal Chairman, and Bärbel Bas (SPD), Federal Minister of Labor and Social Affairs and SPD Party Chairwoman, bid farewell to the members of the previous Federal Cabinet Olaf Scholz (SPD), former Federal Chancellor, Nancy Faeser, Saskia Esken, SPD Federal Chairwoman, Karl Lauterbach, Svenja Schulze and Hubertus Heil at the SPD Federal Party Conference. At the party conference, the SPD intends to elect a new executive committee and initiate a program process. Kay Nietfeld/dpa via Reuters Connect

Does Germany’s ruling coalition have a peace problem?

Europe

Surfacing a long-dormant intra-party conflict, the Friedenskreise (peace circles) within the Social Democratic Party of Germany has published a “Manifesto on Securing Peace in Europe” in a stark challenge to the rearmament line taken by the SPD leaders governing in coalition with the conservative CDU-CSU under Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

Although the Manifesto clearly does not have broad support in the SPD, the party’s leader, Deputy Chancellor and Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil, won only 64% support from the June 28-29 party conference for his performance so far, a much weaker endorsement than anticipated. The views of the party’s peace camp may be part of the explanation.

keep readingShow less
Trump and Putin on phone
Top photo credit: Donald Trump (White House photo) and Vladimir Putin (Office of the Russian Federation President)
US-Russia talks: The rubber finally hits the road

Good, bad and ugly: Impact of US Iran strikes on Russia war talks

Europe

To a considerable degree, President Donald Trump won the presidency in 2024 because voters embraced his message of keeping America out of protracted conflicts and his promise to end the war in Ukraine.

The administration has made substantial operational headway, particularly in reopening stable channels for dialogue with Russia, but it has proven difficult to arrive at a framework for a negotiated settlement that enjoys buy-in from all the stakeholders — Ukraine, Russia, and Europe.

keep readingShow less

LATEST

QIOSK

Newsletter

Subscribe now to our weekly round-up and don't miss a beat with your favorite RS contributors and reporters, as well as staff analysis, opinion, and news promoting a positive, non-partisan vision of U.S. foreign policy.