Maldives’ leader says Gaza belongs to Palestinians, rejects Trump’s takeover plan

Maldivian President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu rejected American President Donald Trump’s proposal for the United States to take over Gaza and turn it into a tourist destination on Thursday, stressing that Gaza belongs to the Palestinian people and not anyone else.

Trump announced the plan during a news conference in Washington, DC with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday.

He said the US will “take over” and “own” Gaza after resettling Palestinians elsewhere under an extraordinary redevelopment plan that he claimed could turn the enclave into “the Riviera of the Middle East”.

The proposal received global condemnation with experts saying it would constitute ethnic cleansing.

Delivering his annual address at the Parliament on Thursday morning, President Muizzu said the Maldives will never support any plan to displace Palestinians.

He said that the Maldives has always supported the establishment of independent and sovereign Palestinian state, and that the country has the Maldivian government’s full support for efforts on that front.

“The land of Gaza belongs to the Palestinian people. The Maldives will never support any effort to displace Palestinians. We have always advocated for the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state based on the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital,” he said.

Trump’s announcement on Tuesday was met with met with shock and audible gasps from those in attendance. It has since been rejected by Palestinian people and leaders, Middle East powers, and the governments of Spain, France, Russia, China, and the Republic of Ireland, among others.

Neighboring countries also repeatedly rejected the prospect of large-scale transfers of Palestinians out of Gaza, which has been levelled in a 15-month-long war between Hamas and Israel. At least 47,552 people in Gaza have been killed in the fighting.

The ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas went into effect on January 19.

But Israel and Hamas have only agreed to the first 42-day phase of the deal, which remains ongoing. It has seen a pause in fighting and the release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the eventual release of 33 captives held in Gaza.

The second phase would see a more complete end to the war and a release of the remaining captives.

A third phase is meant to eventually see the reconstruction of Gaza, although no day-after plan has yet to emerge.