(Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio touched down in Israel late on Saturday for his inaugural journey to the Middle East, following a controversial proposal by President Donald Trump to relocate Palestinians in Gaza. Trump initially broached the idea of Egypt and Jordan absorbing Palestinians from Gaza on January 25, a notion vehemently rebuffed by the two nations. In a surprising declaration on February 4, subsequent to a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington, Trump put forth a plan to resettle the 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza, with the U.S. assuming control of the razed coastal territory and transforming it into the “Riviera of the Middle East.” On February 10, he asserted that Palestinians would not be granted the right of return to Gaza under his scheme, contradicting earlier indications by his administration that Gazans would be relocated temporarily. The President’s statements echoed enduring Palestinian apprehensions of being permanently uprooted from their homes, characterizing it as a form of ethnic cleansing by some critics. Israel, a key U.S. ally, has engaged in military actions in Gaza, currently paused by a precarious truce, resulting in over 47,000 Palestinian fatalities in the past 16 months according to the Gaza health ministry, evoking allegations of genocide and war crimes – contentions refuted by Israel. The assault led to the internal displacement of almost the entire population of Gaza and triggered a severe food shortage. The recent escalation in the protracted Israeli-Palestinian conflict began on October 7, 2023, when Palestinian Hamas militants launched an attack on Israel, resulting in 1,200 casualties and the capture of around 250 hostages as per Israeli reports. Rubio is scheduled to address the Gaza situation and the aftermath of the Hamas offensive on Israel during his journey, aligning with Trump’s strategy of disrupting the prevailing state of affairs in the region, as per a State Department official’s statement last week. (Reporting by Enas Alashray; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
