Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu, a 1967 graduate of Cheltenham High School, met with President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday, February 4 to discuss the ongoing alliance between the U.S. and Israel and plans to relocate Gazans, The Associated Press reported today.

“President Trump suggested that displaced Palestinians in Gaza be permanently resettled outside the war-torn territory and proposed the U.S. take ‘ownership’ in redeveloping the area into ‘the Riviera of the Middle East,'”, the AP said, noting that Trump “wants to push roughly 1.8 million people to leave the land they have called home and claim it for the U.S., perhaps with American troops.”

“The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too,” President Trump said during the conference. “We’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site, level the site and get rid of the destroyed buildings — level it out. Create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area. Do a real job. Do something different.”

“We’ll make sure that it’s done world-class. It’ll be wonderful for the people — Palestinians, Palestinians mostly, we’re talking about,” President Trump said.

He offered no detail about what authority the U.S. would use to take the land and develop it, the AP said.

CNN called it “a stunning proposal that would dramatically reorient the Middle East and subject a population of more than a million to further displacement.”

Hamas issued the following in response to Trump’s comments:

“We reject Trump’s statements in which he said that the residents of the Gaza Strip have no choice but to leave, and we consider them a recipe for creating chaos and tension in the region,” the group said.

Netanyahu also met with White House national security adviser Mike Waltz and Witkoff on Monday to discuss the next phase of a ceasefire agreement.

The press conference from yesterday can be watched below:

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Screengrab: ABC News