KYIV, UKRAINE: UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Wednesday said that Palestinians should be able to “live and prosper in their homelands”, hitting back at US President Donald Trump’s proposal to take over the Gaza Strip.
Trump made his announcement that included a proposal to resettle Palestinians in other countries to audible gasps during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom he was hosting at the White House for talks.
Lammy spoke at a conference in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, which he visited in a show of support for the country’s battle against Russia.
“We must see Palestinians able to live and prosper in their homelands in Gaza, in the West Bank. That is what we want to get to,” he said.
In a proposal that lacked details on how he would move out more than two million Palestinians or control Gaza, Trump said on Tuesday that he would make the war-battered enclave “unbelievable” by removing unexploded bombs and rubble, and economically redeveloping it.
Suggesting “long-term ownership” by the United States, Trump said his idea would make it “the Riviera of the Middle East. This could be something that could be so magnificent”.
Hamas says Trump plan to take over Gaza will pour ‘oil on the fire’
The proposal triggered a flurry of condemnations.
Lammy said that “Trump is right. Looking at those scenes of Palestinians who have been horrendously displaced over so many months of war, it’s clear that Gaza is in rubble.”
“We’ve always been clear in our belief that we must seek two states,” he immediately added.
He said that the UK would eventually play its part in reconstructing Gaza, levelled by months of conflict, alongside the Palestinian authorities, and Gulf and Arab partners.
“That’s the guarantee that we all need to ensure that there is a future for Palestinians in their homeland,” he said.
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