Trump's bid to take over Gaza 'very surprising': UN

Brussels: The head of the UN refugee agency voiced consternation Wednesday at President Donald Trump's shock proposal for the United States to take over the Gaza Strip and resettle its people.

Filippo Grandi, the United Nations' high commissioner for refugees, told AFP in an interview in Brussels it was not "clear" what the idea entailed, which made it difficult to comment on such a "sensitive issue".

"It's something very surprising, but we have to see what it means in concrete terms," Grandi said.


Trump made his announcement to audible gasps on Tuesday during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom he was hosting at the White House for talks.

In a proposal that lacked details, Trump said he would make the war-battered enclave "unbelievable" by removing unexploded bombs and rubble, and economically redeveloping it.

Grandi also said his agency, the UNHCR, was in the process of "renegotiating" US support after Washington announced a sweeping freeze of most US aid.

"All of this is very fluid at the moment, which is a problem, because we are an organisation that cannot wait too long," Grandi said.

The US currently accounted for up to 40 percent of all contributions received by the UNHCR, he said.