US President Donald Trump walks to board Air Force One as he departs Al Udeid Air Base, en-route to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, in Doha, Qatar, May 15, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Brian Snyder

President Donald Trump on Thursday reiterated his desire to take over the Gaza Strip, telling a business roundtable in Qatar that the US would “make it a freedom zone” and arguing there was nothing left to save in the Palestinian territory.

Trump first pitched his Gaza idea in February, saying the US would redevelop it and relocate Palestinian residents. The plan drew condemnation from Palestinians, Arab nations, and the UN saying it would amount to ethnic cleansing.

Most of Gaza‘s 2.3 million population is internally displaced as Israel continues its military campaign against the Hamas terrorist group, which has ruled the enclave for nearly two decades. Israel began its campaign after the October 2023 Hamas attack.

Speaking to a group of officials and business leaders in Qatar, which has hosted Hamas’s political office in Doha for years, Trump said he has “concepts for Gaza that I think are very good: Make it a freedom zone, let the United States get involved.”

Trump said he had seen “aerial shots where, I mean, there’s practically no building standing. It’s not like you’re trying to save something. There’s no buildings. People are living under the rubble of buildings that collapsed, which is not acceptable.”

“I want to see that ‘Gaza’ be a freedom zone. And if it’s necessary, I think I’d be proud to have the United States have it, take it, make it a freedom zone. Let some good things happen.”

Trump has previously said he wants to turn Gaza into the “Riviera of the Middle East.”

Many Palestinians reject any plan involving them leaving Gaza.

Commenting on Trump‘s remarks in Qatar, Hamas official Basem Naim said the president “possesses the necessary influence” to end the Gaza war and help establish a Palestinian state.

But Naim added: “Gaza is an integral part of Palestinian land — it is not real estate for sale on the open market.”

Direct US involvement in Gaza would draw Washington deeper into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and potentially mark its biggest Middle East intervention since its 2003 Iraq invasion. Many Americans view foreign entanglements with skepticism.

Israel began its campaign in Gaza following the Hamas-led attack on southern Israeli communities on Oct. 7, 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken as hostages to Gaza.

Earlier this month, Israel approved expanded offensive plans against Hamas that might include seizing the Strip and controlling aid.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described Trump‘s idea as “a bold vision,” and has said that he and the US president have discussed which countries might be willing to take Palestinians who leave Gaza.