Donald Trump's Gaza plan: Ethnic cleansing or a crime against humanity?

US President Donald Trump has said he plans to take over the Gaza Strip, transfer its Palestinian population to other countries, and rebuild the territory into the “Riviera of the Middle East”.

Speaking at a White House press conference on Tuesday, with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu looking on, Trump also said that Egypt and Jordan would “give us the kind of land that we need to get this done”.

More than 47,000 Palestinians have been killed during the 15 months since Netanyahu declared war on Gaza after the Hamas-led attacks of 7 October 2023 on southern Israel that left 1,139 people dead. Netanyahu is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Gaza has been reduced to rubble by Israeli forces using US-supplied armaments. The UN agency Ocha says almost all of the homes in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed.

The destruction also extends to 80 percent of Gaza's commercial facilities, 88 percent of its school buildings, 68 percent of the road networks, and 68 percent of farmland.

Read more: Donald Trump's Gaza plan: Ethnic cleansing or a crime against humanity?