Donald Trump has appeared to back off his demand that some 2 million Palestinians be permanently relocated from the Gaza Strip to nearby countries so the US could take over the territory and develop it into “the Riviera of the Middle East”.

The US president said this month he favoured taking control of Gaza and displacing the Palestinian population of the devastated seaside enclave. Over the course of several days, he repeatedly waved aside objections to the idea, including flat-out rejections from the leaders of Egypt and Jordan.