LAST UPDATE | 10 Feb 2025

US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump is escalating his threats against Palestinians in Gaza, saying that they would have no right of return under his proposed plan to seize control of the territory.

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

Human rights activists have denounced the plan.

In a new development, Trump has said Palestinians would have no right of return to Gaza under his takeover plan.

In an interview with Fox News Channel’s Bret Baier, Trump said of Gaza that he “would own it”.

When asked if Palestinians would have the right to return to Gaza, Trump said: ”No, they wouldn’t, because they’re going to have much better housing.”

“In other words, I’m talking about building a permanent place for them because if they have to return now, it’ll be years before you could ever — it’s not habitable.” 

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.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country” and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights says that “everyone shall be free to leave any country, including his own” and that “no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of the right to enter his own country”. 

The International Committee of the Red Cross says that “displaced persons have a right to voluntary return in to their homes or places of habitual residence as soon as the reasons for their displacement cease to exist”.

As such, refusing to allow Palestinians displaced from Gaza to return could be tried as a crime under international law.

In the Fox interview, Trump said he would build “beautiful communities” for the more than two million Palestinians who live in Gaza. “Could be five, six, could be two. But we’ll build safe communities, a little bit away from where they are, where all of this danger is.

“In the meantime, I would own this. Think of it as a real estate development for the future. It would be a beautiful piece of land. No big money spent.”

After Trump made the shock announcement last week that he wants to “take over the Gaza Strip”, he initially said that Palestinians could be among the “world people” allowed to live there, but has since appeared to harden his position to suggest that they could not.

Egypt’s foreign ministry has issued a statement this evening saying that it rejects “any compromise” that would infringe on Palestinians’ rights.

“Egypt maintains its position rejecting any compromise of these rights, including the right to self-determination, remaining on the land and independence,” it said

Additional reporting by AFP