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The White House has sought to assuage fears of a protracted US military intervention in Gaza, insisting Donald Trump’s plan for Washington to assume control of the enclave did not necessarily mean putting “boots on the ground”.
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that while the president had made a “historic proposal for the United States to take over Gaza”, he had “not committed” to sending in US troops “just yet”.
“It’s been made very clear to the president that the United States needs to be involved in this rebuilding effort,” she said on Wednesday. “That does not mean boots on the ground in Gaza. It does not mean American taxpayers will be funding this effort.”
Leavitt’s comments come a day after Trump caused uproar in the US and around the world with a proposal that the US should “take control” of the Palestinian enclave and that its entire population of 2.2mn should be resettled.
The plan also provoked a hostile reaction from many in the president’s own party, with some Republicans saying it strayed from his “America First” agenda.
“I thought we voted for America First,” said Rand Paul, a Republican senator from Kentucky. “We have no business contemplating yet another occupation to doom our treasure and spill our soldiers blood.”
Josh Hawley, a Republican senator from Missouri, echoed his concerns. “I don’t know that I think it’s the best use of United States resources to spend a bunch of money in Gaza,” he told the Jewish Insider.
Some party members saw Trump’s proposal as contradicting his longtime criticism of US intervention in “endless” foreign wars.
Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator from South Carolina, described the plan as “problematic”. “I think most South Carolinians would probably not be excited about sending Americans to take over Gaza,” he said.
Secretary of state Marco Rubio sought to calm jitters over Trump’s proposal, saying it was “not meant as a hostile move” but rather as an “offer to rebuild”.
“What he’s very generously offering is the ability of the United States to go in and help with debris removal, help with munitions removal, help with reconstruction, the rebuilding of homes and businesses and things of this nature, so that people can move back in,” he said.
Other Republicans rallied behind the president. Mike Johnson, Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, conceded the announcement had been “greeted with surprise by many” but insisted it was “cheered by people all around the world”.
Johnson said: “He’s taking bold, decisive action to try to ensure the peace of that region. It’s a bold move certainly. Far bolder than what’s been done before.”
Democrats, meanwhile, accused Trump of supporting “ethnic cleansing” in the enclave and accused the president of abandoning the needs of American voters to send funds to a distant region.
“He just said that it will be US policy to forcibly displace 2mn Palestinians from the Gaza Strip,” said Chris Van Hollen, a Democratic senator from Maryland. “That is ethnic cleansing by another name.”
Democratic congresswoman Rashida Tlaib said: “He’s perfectly fine cutting off working Americans from federal funds while the funding to the Israeli government continues flowing.”
