How Netanyahu learned about Trump’s shock decision to ‘take over’ Gaza Strip as government agencies were left scrambling

President Donald Trump’s shock announcement that he wants the United States to ‘take over’ the Gaza Strip came to a surprise to many in the White House – and even to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The US president was standing next to the Israeli leader when he announced his bold plan to transform the enclave’s ‘rubble’ into a Middle East ‘Riviera’ on Tuesday afternoon, prompting Netanyahu to grin broadly.

He had only learned about the plan as they had walked into their joint news conference, according to the New York Times.  

Those inside the White House were also said to be left shocked, as there were no meetings with the State Department or Pentagon – as is normal procedure for major foreign policy proposals. 

The Department of Defense did not even produce any estimates of the number of troops or cost estimates it would require to transform the Gaza Strip. Administration officials did not even produce an outline of how the takeover may happen. 

The proposal had not come up in private meetings Trump has held with Republican members of the Armed Services Committees, even though the ceasefire and broader challenges across the Middle East were part of the discussion.  

But in private, Trump had reportedly been in talks about taking over the Palestinian enclave for weeks, after repeatedly highlighting the value of Gaza’s seaside location. 

‘We’ve been looking at this over the last weeks and months, and frankly he’s been thinking about it since October 7,’ national security adviser Mike Waltz claimed on CBS Wednesday. 

‘He’s not seeing any realistic solutions on how those miles and miles and miles of debris are going to be cleared. 

‘The fact that nobody has a realistic solution and he puts some bold, fresh new ideas on the table, I don’t think should be criticized in any way,’ he said. 

‘I think it’s going to bring the entire region to come with their own solutions if they don’t like Mr. Trump’s solutions.’ 

Trump’s thinking accelerated after his Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, returned from the war-torn land last week and described the horrific conditions.

‘It is the buildings that could tip over at any moment. There’s no utilities there whatsoever, no working water, electric, gas, nothing,’ he told reporters of what he saw. ‘God knows what kind of disease might be festering there.’ 

‘So when the president talks about cleaning it out, he talks about making it habitable. And this is a long-range plan.’

In conversations with his aides, Trump bemoaned what he said was a void of alternative plans being offered by other countries in the region, insiders told CNN.

‘The notion of lather, rinse, repeat – let’s do the same thing in Gaza we’ve done for decades isn’t going to sustain,’ one White House official said of how Trump came to his decision.

‘We’ve been in this loop, this cycle…far too long and it isn’t working.’

Trump had reportedly been considering such a move for weeks, but his thinking accelerated after his Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, returned from the war-torn land last week and described the horrific conditions

He was reportedly upset that no other countries have offered their own proposals for Gaza

Witkoff had described how ‘there’s no utilities there whatsoever, no working water, electric, gas, nothing’

Now, staffers have been left scrambling to come up with a plan – as some reportedly hope Trump’s bizarre proposal is widely forgotten.

They are said to be prioritizing ‘continuing steps,’ one source familiar with the strategy told CNN, primarily ensuring the ceasefire deal and hostage agreement holds and that all parties ‘keep their end of the bargain.’

Trump will also discuss the possibility of Jordan taking in some Palestinians from Gaza when he meets with King Abdullah next week, they said.

He has been publicly pressuring the Jordanians and Egyptians to take in the 1.8million Gazan people for weeks, but Trump also suggested on Tuesday he may send in troops. 

He said they would ‘do what is necessary’ and suggested if that’s what is necessary, that’s what they would do.

The drastic move would violate international law – though Trump suggested the Gazans would be eager to leave the land because it was uninhabitable. 

‘We’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site, level the site, and get rid of the destroyed buildings, level it out,’ Trump said. 

He said the U.S. would ‘create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area.’

However, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called for the United Nations to ‘protect the Palestinian people and their inalienable rights,’ saying that what Trump wanted to do would be ‘a serious violation of international law.’ 

The US president was standing next to the Israeli leader when he announced his bold plan to transform the rubble into a Middle East ‘Riviera’ on Tuesday afternoon

Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke at a news conference in Guatamala on February 5 where he insisted Trump’s Gaza proposal was not meant to be a hostile move but a willingness for the U.S. to be responsible for reconstruction 

The immediate reaction among Palestinians and leaders across the region was one of ‘revulsion,’ said Aaron David Miller, a Middle East expert who advised secretaries of state across multiple administrations of both parties.

‘The question is whether or not this is Trump disrupting, or is this tethered to a an actual strategy. And I would argue this is the reflection of a very unserious man. He’s thinking with the opportunistic sensibility of a real estate developer,’ he told DailyMail.com.

There was also disbelief inside the East Room of the White House. ‘This is nuts,’ said one reporter after Trump proposed the plan. 

Meanwhile, on Wednesday GOP lawmakers dodged questions about the proposal left and right while Secretary of State Marco Rubio tried to frame Trump’s plan as ‘a very generous move – the offer to rebuild and be in charge of the rebuilding of a place.’

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was also in cleanup mode.

‘The president has not committed to putting boots on the ground in Gaza,’ she said.