Rubio: Countries criticizing Trump’s Gaza plan should step up and ‘find a solution’ Katz: defense officials discuss plans for Palestinians to ‘voluntarily’ leave Gaza
Rubio says people will have to relocate in 'interim' while Gaza is rebuilt US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Gaza residents will need to relocate temporarily while the territory undergoes reconstruction due to dangers from unexploded weapons.
Gaza currently is "not habitable" due to dangers such as unexploded weapons, and people would have to live elsewhere while the area is rebuilt, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday.
Rubio, answering a reporter's question during a visit to the Dominican Republic, encouraged other countries to step forward and offer to help rebuild Gaza but did not say whether Palestinians would be able to return to the area under a proposal by US President Donald Trump to take over and develop the Gaza Strip.
"I think that's just a realistic reality, that in order to fix a place like that, people are going to have to live somewhere else in the interim," Rubio said.
Trump’s controversial plan to take over Gaza was announced during his joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday.
Several White House staff members have made attempts to walk back the severity of the statement, saying the plan would only call for a “temporary evacuation.”
