Trump touts ‘freedom zone’ plan for Gaza in Qatar as ceasefire talks stall

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, and AL-UDEID AIR BASE, Qatar — President Trump said on Thursday the Gaza Strip should be made into a “freedom zone,” doubling down on his proposal to displace Palestinians from the territory just as Israel plans a major offensive and intensifies deadly airstrikes, killing more than 150 people in the past day, including dozens of children.

Trump is on the last leg of a trip to the Middle East – a visit that did not include a stop in Israel. He has mainly skirted the issue of the war in Gaza in his public remarks during the trip, but made comments to reporters after a roundtable with business leaders in Qatar.

“Gaza has been a territory of death and destruction for many years,” Trump said. “I have concepts for Gaza that I think are very good — make it a freedom zone. Let the United States get involved and make it just a freedom zone.”

Israel’s far-right government has embraced Trump’s proposals on Gaza to displace Palestinians permanently outside the territory and turn it into a seaside real-estate development. Trump’s latest comments on Gaza were made while he was still in Qatar. All Arab states have rejected the plan, and Hamas has called it ethnic cleansing.

Trump’s remarks about Gaza came on the same day the number of Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks in the war surpassed 53,000 people — a third of them children, according to Gaza’s health ministry. Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed this week in intensified Israeli airstrikes, according to hospitals and health officials contacted by NPR.

Trump described aerial images of the widespread destruction from Israeli airstrikes on Gaza.

“There’s practically no building standing. It’s not like you’re trying to save something,” he said.

Ceasefire talks stall even while Trump in Qatar, where talks are happening

Only a day before Trump arrived in the Middle East, Hamas freed U.S.-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander, an Israeli soldier taken captive by Palestinian militants in the Oct. 7th, 2023 attack on Israel. The release raised hopes that the United States could push forward a ceasefire.

But talks appear stuck with no progress being made in recent days, despite the presence of Israeli negotiators in Qatar this week and a visit by Trump’s Mideast Envoy Steve Witkoff to Israel on Tuesday.

Hamas agreed to release Alexander after rare direct talks with the Trump administration in Qatar before the president’s tour of the Gulf. Those talks sidestepped Israel’s prime minister, who’s under increasing pressure at home to strike a deal that frees hostages. Hamas wants U.S. guarantees that a deal releasing remaining Israeli hostages would be in exchange for an end to war and Israel removing its troops from Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted on only a temporary truce to free some hostages. He has vowed to return to war after any pause in fighting with the aim of eliminating Hamas and disarming the group.

While in the Gulf, Trump heard from the leaders of Saudi Arabia and Qatar on the need to end the war in Gaza. The Saudi crown prince made those remarks at a Gulf Arab leaders’ summit with Trump, and Qatar’s ruling emir was heard raising the issue with Trump upon his arrival to Doha on Wednesday.

Israel, however, is planning an offensive to take over more territory in Gaza and has called up tens of thousands of reservist soldiers in preparation. Israel also has plans to roll out a U.S-backed plan to distribute food rations to Palestinians who would be forcibly displaced to small zones of southern Gaza.

Israel says its aim is to ensure Hamas does not access or benefit from aid. U.N. organizations and other aid groups in Gaza refuse to participate in the new scheme, saying it would put Palestinians at greater risk and further displace the population.

Israel has imposed more than two months of blockade on the territory, barring the entry of all aid, including food, fuel and medicine. The blockade has pushed half a million people in Gaza to starvation, according to the latest review by independent experts on famine. Israel’s blockade has sparked widespread criticism from countries around the world, as well as aid organizations and rights groups.

Trump’s focus is on big investment deals in the Gulf

Trump’s visit to the Gulf has focused on multibillion-dollar deals that boost investment in U.S. companies, like an order signed by Qatar on Wednesday for up to 210 Boeing airplanes.

Major deals were also signed during his two-day stop in Saudi Arabia this week in technology and AI, but the bulk of investments and sales to Gulf states are in U.S. defense and weaponry.

Trump gave rally-style remarks on Thursday to thousands of U.S. troops stationed in Qatar’s Al-Udeid Air Base, falsely telling them he had won the 2020 election, and describing the Biden administration as “evil.”

“You are, without a doubt, the greatest fighting force in the history of the world,” he said, adapting his campaign slogan to tell troops they were “making America great again” and describing his administration’s efforts to end diversity initiatives in the military.

“We don’t care if you’re politically correct,” he said.

The sprawling air base has been used by the U.S. for airstrikes against the Islamic State group and other operations in the Middle East. The U.S. also has the Navy’s 5th Fleet positioned off the coast of Bahrain, and troops present at bases in the UAE, where the president is slated to round out his Gulf tour on Friday.

Aya Batrawy reported from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.