Trump’s Son-in-Law Avoids Question on Gaza Take Over Plan
Washington (Quds News Network)- Former Middle East advisor and Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner avoided answering whether Palestinians will be able to return to their homeland under Trump’s “take over” Gaza plans. Instead, he blamed Palestinian leadership for the suffering of its people.
“Did you stand by the comments to buy Gaza? Do you think the Palestinian should have the right to return?” Sky News’s Mark Stone questioned Kushner who replied, “There should be peace and they should get their leadership that actually will help them make peace instead of putting them in suffering.”
“Will Palestinians be able to return under Trump’s Gaza plans.. and not repeat the Nakba?” the reporter asked. Kushner said, “They need leadership that’s not gonna attack their neighbors.”
BREAKING | Jared Kushner Dodges Question on Palestinian Right of Return, Blames Leadership for Their Suffering.
In a tense exchange, a reporter pressed Jared Kushner, a former senior White House advisor and son-in-law of Donald Trump on whether Palestinians have the right to… pic.twitter.com/lquWkYLBWw
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) February 21, 2025
Recently, Trump announced a proposal to “take over” Gaza and forcibly expel its more than 2 million Palestinians.
Trump has also called on Jordan, Egypt, and other Arab countries to take in Palestinians – a proposal that has been met with widespread criticism and rejection from Arab countries and other allies while being condemned as an ethnic-cleansing plan.
In an interview with Fox News’s Bret Baier, Trump also said he would “own” Gaza and said it would be a “real estate development for the future”. Asked whether Palestinians would have the right to return, Trump said: “No, they wouldn’t.”
“In the meantime, I would own this,” Trump – a former real estate developer – added, saying: “Think of it as a real estate development for the future. It would be a beautiful piece of land. No big money spent.”
On February 4, Trump said during a joint press conference alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “The US will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it too.”
“As far as Gaza is concerned, we’ll do what is necessary. If it’s necessary, we’ll do that. We’re going to take over that piece that we’re going to develop,” he said.
“I do see a long-term ownership position, and I see it bringing great stability to that part of the Middle East, and maybe the entire Middle East,” Trump told reporters in the East Room of the White House.
He said later: “This was not a decision made lightly. Everybody I’ve spoken to loves the idea of the United States owning that piece of land, developing and creating thousands of jobs with something that will be magnificent.”
In February 2024, Kushner said, “Gaza’s waterfront property, it could be very valuable.” “It’s a little bit of an unfortunate situation there, but I think from Israel’s perspective, I would do my best to move the people out and then clean it up.”
Kushner was speaking as Israel was weighing an invasion of Rafah in southern Gaza. He said that Palestinians could be forcibly displaced to the Negev desert in Israeli-occupied Palestine or Egypt. When pressed, he said they would be allowed to return to Gaza.
After Trump’s first term in office ended, Kushner launched a private equity fund, Affinity Partners. The fund almost seems tailor-made for Trump’s vision of building a luxury city in Gaza.
Kushner was one of the main architects of Trump’s Abraham Accords, and he formed an especially close friendship with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
He floated a plan dubbed “The Deal of the Century”, which called for Israel to annex 30 percent of the West Bank and a Palestinian pseudo-state to be created with no military. The plan tried to entice the Palestinian Authority by offering $50bn in economic aid. It was rejected.
Saudi Arabia is Affinity Partners’ main backer, with its sovereign wealth fund giving Kushner $2bn dollars. As of December last year, the UAE and Qatar have also contributed a combined $1.5bn to the fund.
With the Gulf money, Affinity Partners has invested in two Israeli companies: Phoenix Holdings, an insurance company, and the car leasing division of Shlomo Holdings, whose parent company, Shmeltzer Holdings, is part owner of Israel Shipyards, the only domestic shipbuilder for the Israeli navy.
