Marco Rubio arrived in Israel late Saturday on his first trip to the Middle East as Secretary of State

(Patria) - U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Israel late Saturday on his first trip to the Middle East, following President Donald Trump's widely condemned proposal to displace Palestinians from Gaza, Reuters reported.

Trump first floated the idea that Egypt and Jordan should accept Palestinians from Gaza on January 25, which was met with strong opposition.

In a stunning announcement on February 4, after a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington, Trump proposed relocating 2.2 million Palestinians from Gaza and having the United States take control and ownership of the devastated coastal enclave, turning it into the "Riviera of the Middle East."

On February 10, he said Palestinians would not have the right to return to Gaza under his plan, contradicting his officials who suggested Gaza residents would only be temporarily relocated.

The U.S. president's comments reflect a long-standing Palestinian fear of permanent expulsion from their homes, with some critics labeling them a proposal for ethnic cleansing.

The military assault on Gaza by U.S. ally Israel, now paused by a fragile ceasefire, has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians over the past sixteen months and sparked accusations of genocide and war crimes, which Israel denies. The assault has internally displaced nearly the entire population of Gaza and triggered a hunger crisis.

The latest bloodshed in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on October 7, 2023, when Palestinian Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages.