President Donald Trump's national security adviser, Mike Waltz, said Sunday on "Meet the Press" that the Palestinians would need to be moved from their homeland to make way for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.
When asked by moderator Kristen Welker who would control Gaza "once the war is over," Waltz described the situation as developing.
"Well, right now ... the Israeli Defense Forces have had to go in and will continue to destroy Hamas if they do not honor the terms of this ceasefire. So that's point one," Waltz said.
"Point two, President Trump looks at this in very practical terms, in the sense of, Are we going to repeat the definition of insanity here and pour billions in, rebuild, and just have another Oct. 7 again and another war years from now?"
"Let's look at the reality of having 1.8 million people sitting in piles of rubble with no sewage, with unexploded ordinance. And he's asking, in a humane way, 'What is going to happen to these people?'" he continued.
"And everyone around the region says their heart breaks for the Palestinians, rightly so. But then come to the table with your plan if you don't like his plan. And interestingly, we are seeing all kinds of outreach since the president made that statement of saying, 'Let's help you take this on.' And so those conversations are ongoing right now."
Reuters reported Sunday that Trump is expected to have conversations with Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt over the reconstruction of Gaza.
Waltz reiterated there can't be a reconstruction of Gaza with Palestinians living there.
"The key piece is you can't get to postconstruction, you can't make this the Paris of the Mediterranean like Beirut was back in the '70s and give these people a better life if you've got 1.8 million people living in absolute squalor in mountains and mountains and mountains of debris. President Trump is a builder."
Calling Trump "a dealmaker in chief," Waltz said the president "understands that this ... just doesn't make sense. So for anyone — the media included — that doesn't like what he is proposing, come to us with a better plan."
Nick Koutsobinas ✉
Nick Koutsobinas, a Newsmax writer, has years of news reporting experience. A graduate from Missouri State University’s philosophy program, he focuses on exposing corruption and censorship.
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