HAMAS HAS WELCOMED comments by US President Donald Trump in which he seemed to pivot from previous proposals to forcibly remove all Palestinians from Gaza. 

He was speaking at yesterday’s meeting with the Taoiseach when he said that “nobody is expelling any Palestinians from Gaza” in response to a journalist’s question.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin expressed again the need for a surge in humaitarian aid in Gaza and restated his support for a two-state solution.

“There’s too many children and too many people starving, and it’s that humanitarian inputs [that] motivates the Irish,” Martin said. Trump said: “Right.”

Last month, at a press conference alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump said that he wants to “take over” Gaza, permanently resettle its residents elsewhere, “level it out” and redevelop it.

The right of return is the principle under international law and agreements that a displaced person should be allowed to return to their own country if they wish.

Yesterday’s comments appear to be somewhat of a stepchange in what Trump says his plans are for the region.

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“If US President Trump’s statements represent a retreat from any idea of ​​displacing the people of the Gaza Strip, they are welcomed,”  spokesperson Hazem Qassem said in the statement.

“We (Hamas) call for this position to be reinforced by obligating the Israeli occupation to implement all the terms of the ceasefire agreements.”

During the Oval Office press conference, Martin told reporters that he “doesn’t have to inform the President about Gaza, he’s very clued in to the whole situation”.

“We share the President’s unrelenting focus on peace,” he said.