WATCH: U.S. ‘will take over the Gaza Strip’ and ‘own it,’ Trump says at White House

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the United States will “take over” Gaza and rebuild it in the aftermath of Israel’s war against Hamas.

The president’s comments came during a joint news conference at the White House with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Trump, calling the Gaza Strip “a symbol of death and destruction for so many decades” and “an unlucky place for a long time,” said the area “should not go through a process of rebuilding and occupation by the same people that have really stood there and fought for it … and lived a miserable existence there.” Instead, the president called on “countries of interest with humanitarian hearts” to build “various domains that will ultimately be occupied by the 1.8 million Palestinians living in Gaza.”

Last month, the Biden administration, with assistance from the Trump transition team, helped secure an ongoing ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that has involved the exchange of hostages and prisoners on both sides. Gazans began returning to the devastated territory in late January.

The president said that the “only reason” Palestinians want to return to Gaza is because “they have no alternative.”

Trump said the U.S. will “be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous, unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site,” level the destroyed buildings and create economic development in the area. When asked who he envisions living in Gaza after it is rebuilt, Trump said, “the world's people,” including Palestinians.

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