Arab politicians, intellectuals, reject Trump's Gaza ‘take over’ proposal

​​​​​​​By Muhammed Yusuf, Muhammed Emin Canik and Muhammed Enes Calli

ISTANBUL (AA) - Politicians, intellectuals and legal experts from the Arab world on Friday rejected US President Donald Trump's plan to “take over” the Gaza Strip.

The civil society organization, the Arab Council, organized the Arab Peoples Summit online under the title, "From the Balfour Declaration to the Trump Declaration: Palestine is not for sale."

Trump wants to eliminate the Palestinian presence in Gaza under the guise of reconstruction, said the summit's statement.

It also noted that US plans are not limited to Gaza but extend to the occupied West Bank, with the Trump administration starting to use Hebrew names for locations in the West Bank.

"The conflict in Palestine did not begin on Oct. 7, 2023. It began with the occupation of Palestine, the confiscation of its lands, and the displacement of its people."

"Resistance is a legitimate right for occupied peoples," it added.

The summit, which also addressed Arab countries, demanded the cessation of normalization with Israel, for a serious stance to be taken against threats, for the support of the Palestinian people and the facilitation of material and political support from Arab peoples to the Palestinians.

Trump said at a news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week that the US would “take over” Gaza and resettle Palestinians elsewhere under an extraordinary redevelopment plan that he claimed would turn the enclave into “the Riviera of the Middle East.”

His proposal was met with widespread condemnations from Palestinians, Muslim and Arab countries, and many other nations across the world.

Israel has maintained a blockade on Gaza for years, effectively turning it into the world’s largest open-air prison.

Nearly 2 million of the 2.3 million residents in Gaza have been displaced since the start of the war after an attack by the Palestinian group, Hamas, on Oct. 7, 2023, according to the UN.

The population in Gaza faces dire shortages of food, water and medicine.