U.S. President Donald Trump yesterday Monday reiterated a proposal he made on Saturday, saying he wants to see Palestinians in the Gaza Strip live “without violence” and stressed he would see Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington “soon.”

“I would like them to go to some place where they can live without riots, without revolution, without violence,” the Republican told reporters aboard the presidential jet returning to Washington from Florida.

“The Gaza Strip has been hell for so many years (…) I think people could live in much safer areas and probably much more comfortable,” he added.

Asked whether he favors a two-state solution, Donald Trump did not answer: he countered that “I will talk (with Benjamin Netanyahu) in the near future. He will come here.”

He did not reveal exactly when, but insisted that the Israeli prime minister’s trip would take place “very soon.”

The 47th US president on Saturday dropped the idea of “cleaning up” the Gaza Strip, which apparently includes its residents. He said he wants to see Palestinians living in the enclave, which has suffered immense destruction after 15 months of war, go to Egypt and Jordan to live in peace.

Predictably, the proposal caused a heap of reaction and concern in the Arab world.

President Trump spoke in the past few days with Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. “I hope they get some. We’ve helped them a lot and I’m sure they’ll help us too,” the Republican said, referring to Mr. Sisi. “He’s a friend. He lives in a very tough neighborhood of the world to be honest. But I think he will, and I think the king of Jordan will as well,” he insisted.

Almost all residents of the Gaza Strip (2.4 million people) have been forced to flee their homes because of the war that erupted triggered by the unprecedented assault by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas against southern sectors of Israel’s territory on October 7, 2023.

The enclave continues to observe the ceasefire agreement that went into effect on January 19. Its first phase is expected to last six weeks. Under the agreement, 33 Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip are expected to be released in exchange for the release of some 1,900 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

Also during the first phase it is envisaged that indirect negotiations for the second phase will be held: in this, in theory, the last hostages will be released and the war will end. The third and final phase will be the longest: it provides for the reconstruction of Gaza and the handover of the bodies of hostages killed in captivity or already dead when they were brought into the enclave.

The administration of Mr Trump’s predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden, had drawn up a series of plans for the post-war situation in Gaza, but the current occupant of the White House has made no mention of them to date, leaving some doubt as to whether he favours the establishment of a Palestinian state.