Saudi Arabia blocked Gaza displacement plan backed by Trump

Saudi Arabia played a key role in stopping a US plan to relocate hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, according to a report by the Hebrew-language news site Walla.

Citing Israeli sources, the report said that US President Donald Trump abandoned the plan after his visit to Riyadh, where he signed strategic agreements with the Saudi leadership.

In February, Trump publicly promoted what he called a “voluntary migration plan” for Gaza. He proposed turning the territory into a “Riviera of the Middle East” by relocating its Palestinian population. However, the plan was widely condemned in the Arab world and by humanitarian organisations, which saw it as a cover for forced mass displacement.

According to Walla, Israel observed a shift in the US position following Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia in May. The visit reportedly led to an improvement in US-Saudi relations, reinforced by key economic and security agreements.

Israeli sources noted that Trump’s initiative never moved beyond the stage of what they described as “political flirtation” and was effectively shelved after the trip to Riyadh.

In Israeli decision-making circles, the US withdrawal from the so-called “Gaza migration plan” is seen as a setback to Israeli efforts. Tel Aviv had been counting on Washington’s backing to promote the plan to countries that might accept displaced Gazans. Despite outreach efforts to various states in recent months, no concrete results were achieved.

While a few thousand Palestinians from Gaza left voluntarily, the total number remained far below what Israeli officials had hoped.

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