Image source, EPA

Good morning to our readers in the UK and Europe. Over the last few hours, we've been covering US President Donald Trump's controversial proposal to "take over" the Gaza Strip - if you're just joining us now, here's what you need to know:

• In a joint press conference with Israel's PM Netanyahu, Trump made the shocking proposal that the US could "take over" Gaza
• He added that the US could "do a real job" of economically redeveloping the Palestinian territory into "the Riviera of the Middle East"
• When asked how and under what authority the US could take over Gaza, Trump did not directly respond, but said he saw a "long-term ownership position"
• Before that, Trump had said Gazans should not return home, and should be "resettled" to neighbouring countries - countries in the region had previously rejected this proposal
• Netanyahu, who is the first foreign leader to visit Washington in Trump's second term, praised the president for his ability to "think outside the box" and called Trump "the greatest friend Israel has ever had in the White House"
• The BBC's correspondent Tom Bateman called Trump's takeover plan the "most radical upending" of the established US position on Israel and the Palestinians in the recent history of the conflict

Stay with us as we bring you the latest.

US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff has told Fox News that Trump's Gaza takeover proposal will give Palestinians "more hope" for a better future - one that is potentially away from Gaza.

As a recap, Trump had said on Tuesday night that US could "take over" Gaza and "do a real job" by transforming the Palestinian territory into "the Riveria of the Middle East".

Speaking to host Sean Hannity, Witkoff said Gaza would be "uninhabitable" for at least the next decade, adding: "Everbody wants to see peace in the region...[which] means a better life for the Palestinians. A better life is not necessarily tied to the physical space that you're in today. A better life is about better opportunity, better financial conditions, better aspirations for you and your family.

"That doesn't occur because you get to pitch a tent in the Gaza Strip and you're surrounded by 30,000 munitions that could go off at any moment. It's a dangerous place to live today."

A Hamas official, Sami Abu Zuhri, has described Donald Trump's remarks about taking over the Gaza Strip as "ridiculous" and "absurd".

"Trump's remarks about his desire to control Gaza are ridiculous and absurd, and any ideas of this kind are capable of igniting the region", said Abu Zhuri, according to Reuters.

The president's comments come at a critical juncture, with negotiations on a second stage of the Gaza ceasefire process in their early stages.

Image source, Getty Images

Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has reiterated his country's "longstanding" support for a two-state solution in the Middle East, following Trump's comments on "taking over" Gaza.

"We have had a long-standing bipartisan position for a two-state solution," he told reporters on Wednesday, referring to the creation of an independent Palestinian state that would exist alongside Israel.

"Australia's position is the same as it was this morning, as it was last year, and it was 10 years ago," he said, adding that this stance has received bipartisan support.

Albanese added that he would not "give a daily commentary on statements by the US president".

Analyst Laura Blumenfeld says she "has never been so surprised" as by Donald Trump's remarks on Gaza.

She says while his suggestion may sound like "nails on the chalkboard" to many in the region, it could be an "ode to joy" to Israel PM Netanyahu's right-wing coalition

Image source, Getty Images

The United States "stands ready to lead and Make Gaza Beautiful Again, external," US Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on X, making reference to the "Make America Great Again" slogan that has been a key aspect of Donald Trump's presidential campaigns since 2016.

"Gaza must be free from Hamas... As [Trump] shared today, the United States stands ready to lead. Our pursuit is one of lasting peace in the region for all people," Rubio wrote.

His post comes after Trump argued that the 2.1 million people living in Gaza should be moved to other Arab countries, allowing the US to take over the Gaza Strip and turn it into a Middle Eastern Riviera.

Trump's 'most radical upending' proposalpublished at 04:22 Greenwich Mean Time 5 February

04:22 GMT 5 February

Tom Bateman
BBC State Department correspondent, Washington DC

When US President Donald Trump began speaking 10 days ago of Gaza as a demolition site, making calls to "clean out that whole thing", it wasn't clear how far these were off-the-cuff remarks.

But in the lead up to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit, in his Oval Office comments before the meeting, and in the press conference itself, it's now clear he is profoundly serious about his proposals.

They amount to the most radical upending of the established US position on Israel and the Palestinians in the recent history of the conflict; and will be seen as flying in the face of international law.

As well as how the announcement will be absorbed by ordinary people on the ground, it is could also have a significant impact on the more immediate phased ceasefire and hostage release process at a critical juncture.

Under international law, attempts to forcibly transfer populations are strictly prohibited, and Palestinians as well as Arab nations will see this as nothing short of a clear proposal aimed at their expulsion and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their land.

Read more here: Trump's Gaza plan will be seen as flying in face of international law

Image source, Getty Images

Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian American member of the US Congress, has accused Trump of "openly calling for ethnic cleansing".

"He’s perfectly fine cutting off working Americans from federal funds while the funding to the Israeli government continues flowing," says Tlaib, the Democrat representative in Michigan in a post on X.

Tlaib had been critical of former US President Joe Biden's handling of the Israel-Hamas conflict.

In November 2023, Congress voted to censure her - a punishment one step before expulsion from the House - over her comments denouncing the Israeli government.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's meeting with US President Donald Trump comes at a critical juncture for the Gaza ceasefire.

Israel and Hamas are expected to be negotiating the second stage of their ceasefire deal in the coming days.

Hamas said on Tuesday that these talks have started, while Netanyahu's office said a meeting with the US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff on Monday marked the scheduled start of these negotiations.

Stage one is expected to last 42 days until 1 March. In the second stage, a permanent ceasefire will be established, with Israeli forces expected to make a complete withdrawal from Gaza.

The remaining living Israeli hostages in Gaza will also be exchanged for more Palestinian prisoners.

Read more here on the significance of Netanyahu's visit to Washington.

Earlier, Trump was asked by a reporter during his news conference whether he would be open to making a trip to Gaza at some point in the future.

“I love Israel. I will visit there, and I’ll visit Gaza, and I’ll visit Saudi Arabia, and I’ll visit other places all over the Middle East. The Middle East is an incredible place, so vibrant — it’s just one of the really beautiful places with great people,” he said.

"I’ve been invited everywhere, but I will be visiting some,” he added.

Trump's envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, became the first American official in 15 years to visit the Gaza Strip last week.

Witkoff, a real estate developer, told news website Axios that it will take around five years to remove the debris from war, and between 10-15 years to rebuild.

Gaza has suffered vast destruction with a colossal humanitarian impact in the 15-month long conflict between Israel and Hamas.

More than 47,000 Palestinians have been killed during Israel's military action, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, and much infrastructure across the strip has been levelled by air strikes.

The Israeli military insists that its attacks on Gaza have targeted Hamas fighters and that it has tried to avoid or minimise civilian casualties. Hamas has responded to Israeli operations with rocket fire on Israel.

BBC Verify has been analysing the scale of the damage caused by a conflict which has devastated Gaza. The image above shows the Jabalia neighbourhood in the northern part of the strip, before and after the conflict.

Read more here on the scale of the damage Gaza residents are still reeling from.

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, has responded to Trump's plan for the US to take over Gaza and resettle its residents to a "good, fresh beautiful piece of land".

"For those that want to send them to a happy, nice place let them go back to their original homes inside Israel," Mansour responded, in a video posted on X by the Palestinian mission to the UN.

However, he adds that Palestinians wish to return to their homes in Gaza, adding: "Our homeland is our homeland... they want to rebuild Gaza, the schools, the hospitals, the infrastructure because this is where they belong and they love to live there. And I think that leaders should respect the wishes of the Palestinian people."

The BBC's North America Editor Sarah Smith looks at Trump's plans from inside the White House press briefing room.

Brian Katulis, a senior fellow for US foreign policy at the Middle East Institute, believes Trump's suggestion for the US to take over Gaza was made off the cuff and that the US president has no real plan behind it.

"I think he is just making things up off the cuff. Most certainly there is no plan behind this," Katulis told Reuters news agency.

"And if there is it is not a plan that has any connection to reality in today's Middle East, and certainly not in any consultations with the Palestinians or neighboring countries like Egypt and Jordan."

Katulis adds that Trump is "trying to seize the spotlight with provocative statements to try to shift the debate" noting that Trump had made similar statements during his first term as president, to provoke conversations and "make people go a little crazy".

"The problem is it doesn't actually solve problems. It gives us a little time and energy to focus on his ridiculous statements, but it doesn't create a new reality for Palestinians or Israelis," he said.

Trump poised to upend decades of US Middle East policy againpublished at 02:10 Greenwich Mean Time 5 February

02:10 GMT 5 February

Paul Adams
Diplomatic correspondent

Even by Donald Trump’s standards, this was head-spinning stuff.

The United States, he says, is going to take over the Gaza Strip and turn it into a Middle Eastern Riviera.

A place full of jobs and opportunity, populated by people from all over the world, including some Palestinians.

But the bulk of those who have lived there for more than seven decades will be gone – for good.

Trump says his ideas have widespread support, but there’s no sign of that in the Middle East. Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia have all condemned them.

The president also sounded an ominous note about the future of the other Palestinian territory, the West Bank.

Trump said he was thinking of endorsing the idea of Israel having sovereignty there and would have an announcement in the next four weeks.

He said this had nothing to do with the prospects for a two-state solution.

Is any of this serious? With Trump, it’s hard to tell.

But he upended decades of US Middle East policy during his first term in office - and seems poised to do the same now.

Earlier, before Trump's controversial proposal to "take over" Gaza, a Hamas spokesperson had criticised the US preisdent's suggestion that Gazans should not return home and should instead be resettled.

Trump's idea is a "recipe for creating chaos and tension in the region", the spokesperson, Sami Abu Zuhri, told multiple media outlets.

"Our people in the Gaza Strip will not allow these plans to pass. What is required is an end to the occupation and aggression against our people, not their expulsion from their land," he said.

Saudi Arabia has reaffirmed its stance that it will not establish ties with Israel without the creation of a Palestinian state.

This position is "firm and unwavering", the country's foreign ministry says in a statement published after Trump's and Netanyahu's press conference.

The ministry adds that this is "not a matter for negotiation", adding that "permanent peace" without Palestinians being granted their "legitimate rights" to statehood.

Earlier at the White House, the US president and Israeli prime minister highlighted a series of successes during Trump's first term, including the signing of the Abraham Accords - which set up diplomatic ties between Israel and several Arab countries.

Trump also said he hopes to renew this effort to normalise relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

US leader Trump and Israeli PM Netanyahu have just wrapped up a news conference, where the US President made a shocking proposal that the US would "take over" Gaza. Here's a quick summary of what unfolded:

• Trump began the conference by thanking Netanyahu for becoming the first foreign leader to visit Washington in his second White House term
• He leveled jabs at his predecessor, saying that Joe Biden allowed Israel's enemies to grow stronger during his four years in office
• After several minutes, Trump began to argue that the people living in Gaza should be moved to other Arab countries, to allow the US to "take over [and] develop" the devastated Palestinian territory
• Asked who would live there, Trump said it could become home to the "world's people"
• Netanyahu praised Trump's ability to "think outside the box", and called the US president the "greatest friend Israel has ever had in the White House"
• When asked how and under what authority the US could take over Gaza, Trump did not directly respond, but said he saw a "long-term ownership position"

Stay with us as we continue to bring you the latest reactions to the press conference.

Democrats are reacting with outrage to Trump's suggestion that the US will take control of Gaza.

Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy wrote on X: "He’s totally lost it."

"I have news for you - we aren’t taking over Gaza," he went on to say in a follow up post.

"But the media and the chattering class will focus on it for a few days and Trump will have succeeded in distracting everyone from the real story - the billionaires seizing government to steal from regular people."

California Congressman Eric Swalwell posted on X: "Wait what? The US is going to occupy Gaza?

"We were promised no more endless wars. By my count we are occupying Greenland, Canada, Panama Canal, and now..Gaza?"

John Ringer
Reporting from Washington DC

Israel's ambassador to the United Nations had earlier told the BBC he thinks Israel will need to resume its war in Gaza, because Hamas probably won't accept his country's demands.

Danny Danon was speaking to Helena Humphrey on the BBC's World News America programme.

Ambassador Danon said Israel will take part in negotiations for a second phase of the Gaza ceasefire, due to begin in Qatar this week.

But he said Israel will have ”no choice” but to resume the war, unless Hamas agrees to "deport" its own leaders out of Gaza, something he says he doubts the group will agree to.

He said Israel doesn't want to keep its troops on the ground in Gaza, adding Trump and Netanyahu could instead usher in a "new era'" for the region. He called the Palestinian Authority “weak” and questioned its ability to govern Gaza.

Danon also said Israel will keep “all options on the table” when it comes to preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear power.