Donald Trump has suggested large numbers of Palestinians should leave Gaza to “just clean out” the whole strip, after ordering the US military to restart shipments of 2,000lb bombs to Israel.
The US president said he wanted Gaza residents to move to neighbouring nations, and that they could be displaced “temporarily or could be long-term”, after a phone call with Jordan’s King Abdullah on Saturday.
“I said to him: I’d love you to take on more because I’m looking at the whole Gaza Strip right now and it’s a mess, it’s a real mess. I’d like him to take people,” Trump said, when asked about the call.
He also suggested Egypt as a destination for Gaza residents, and said he would raise the issue with President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi on Sunday.
Trump is explicitly suggesting that the land be cleared out of Palestinians and granted to Israeli settlers. This would (at best) be similar to the trail of tears for Cherokee - a displaced people forced to relocate to some low value (likely desert) portion of Egypt and leaving everything built by their culture behind.
This would still meet the definition of a genocide even if no one died (and people would assuredly die in the process).