Trump’s Gaza plan "not hostile," say US officials

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio revealed that Trump's proposed plan for the United States to "own Gaza" was "not meant as hostile. It was meant as, I think, a very generous move -- the offer to rebuild and to be in charge of the rebuilding."

Rubio stated that Trump offered the US's "willingness to step in, clear the debris, clean the place up from all the destruction that’s on the ground, clean it up of all these unexploded munitions."

He also mentioned that, in the meantime, "the people living there will not be able to live there while you have crews coming in and removing debris."

Trump aims to assist in "rebuilding homes and businesses and things of this nature, so that then people can move back in," Rubio added.

Read more: Trump says Gazans need “another beautiful location”

Meanwhile, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt clarified that Trump has not yet committed to deploying US troops in Gaza.

During a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump refrained from ruling out the possibility of sending American forces to help relocate Palestinians from Gaza.

When asked about the deployment of troops, Leavitt said: "I am saying that the president has not committed to that just yet. He has not made that commitment."