Trump Calls Gaza “Oceanfront Property” Israel Gave Away — History Says, Not So Fast

U.S. President Donald Trump just dropped another head-scratcher. At a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, Trump referred to Gaza as “incredible real estate” and “oceanfront property” that Israel once “gave up.”

That’s right — in Trump’s version of history, Israel just handed over Gaza to the native Palestinians like a generous landlord leaving behind beachside condos. He even floated the idea of expelling native Palestinians to other countries to create a so-called “freedom zone.”

But did Israel give Gaza to the Palestinians?

This is How Israel Got Kicked Out

Let’s rewind to the actual history. In 2005, after years of operations by the Palestinian resistance, Israel unilaterally evacuated 21 colonial settlements inside Gaza. That’s 8,000 settlers pulled out from the occupied Palestinian territory, not as a peace gesture, but because keeping them there became way too costly and dangerous. Resistance made settlement expansion impossible. The dream of beachfront villas in “Gush Katif” turned into a nightmare.

The man behind the move? Ariel Sharon. Yes, that Sharon — not exactly a peace dove. His “disengagement” plan came with zero coordination with the Palestinian Authority and plenty of political baggage. Some say it was meant to distract from corruption scandals. Others saw it as an attempt to protect Israel’s Jewish majority by cutting loose Gaza’s densely populated Palestinian territory.

Whatever the motive, Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza was strategic — not a gift. And certainly not a surrender of something Israel ever “owned.”

Spoiler: Gaza Is Not a Real Estate Deal

Trump’s obsession with land and property might work in Manhattan, but Gaza isn’t a hotel investment opportunity. Palestinians have lived there for thousands of years — long before Israel existed, and even before the British Mandate. Archaeological evidence shows thriving cities in Gaza as far back as the Bronze Age. The Ptolemies ruled it. So did the Ottomans. But no one “gave it up” — because it never belonged to Israel in the first place.

Israel occupied Gaza after the 1967 war and built colonial settlements in it, despite global condemnation. The UN and International Red Cross still consider Gaza occupied — because Israel controls its borders, airspace, and coastline.

The Bottom Line

Trump’s claim that Israel gave up Gaza generously is not just historically wrong — it’s dangerous. It whitewashes decades of military occupation, resistance by native population, and brutal blockade. It treats the suffering of over two million Palestinians as a side note in a bad real estate seminar.

Gaza is not a beachfront bargain. It’s one of the most densely populated and bombarded places on Earth — not because Israel let it go, but because it tried to hold it for too long.

And the people of Gaza? They’re not trespassers. They’re natives. The real owners of that “oceanfront property.”