Trump's Gaza takeover plan faces global condemnation

UN chief warns of ethnic cleansing if Palestinians are forced out of homes Saudi Arabia rejects idea as president insists: 'Everybody loves it'

- Emma Graham-Harrison

Donald Trump's proposal for a US takeover of Gaza sparked anger and blunt rejection yesterday from regional allies, delight from Israel's far right, and a warning against "ethnic cleansing" from the head of the United Nations.

The secretary general, Antonio Guterres, was expected to tell a UN meeting yesterday that "it is essential to avoid any form of ethnic cleansing" after the US president said he wanted to "own" Gaza and resettle its Palestinian residents elsewhere.

An unusually broad wave of international outrage and condemnation followed Trump's shock announcement after a meeting with Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Germany warned that the plan violated international law. Brazil's president described it as "incomprehensible" and China said that it opposed "forced transfer".

Trump appeared untouched by hours of global criticism, telling reporters in the Oval Office in Washington that "everybody loves [the plan]" at the swearing in of his new attorney general, Pam Bondi.

One place the president's claim did hold true was among Israel's far-right circles, where his proposal was embraced as a path to fulfilling a long-held political goal, of taking Gaza out of Palestinian control.

Both regional critics and supporters recognised that Trump's vision for a "Riviera for the Middle East" was novel only in seeking to insert the US directly into the heart of one of the most volatile, long-running conflicts in the world. It is based on emptying Gaza of its current residents - which is, in effect, a call for ethnic cleansing and follows decades of debates in the Israeli right over whether Palestinians can be forced from the enclave, or encouraged to leave with the offer of economic incentives.

Trump wants neighbouring countries that are heavily dependent on US aid and military support, including Egypt and Jordan, to offer new homes to large numbers of Gaza's 2.3 million residents.