Coalition backs two-state solution after Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal

The Coalition has held off embracing Donald Trump’s plan to take “ownership” of Gaza and transform it into the “Riviera of the Middle East”.

The Coalition has reaffirmed its support for a two-state solution after Donald Trump said the US would take “ownership” of war-torn Gaza and resettle the 2.1 million Palestinians who lived there.

The US President’s plan to transform Gaza into the “Riviera of the Middle East” dumped decades of foreign policy, sparking backlash from Washington’s allies.

Some of the Coalition’s policies have been compared to the Trump administration’s.

US President Donald Trump (left) announced his plan to take ‘ownership’ of Gaza after talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right). Picture: Jim Watson / AFP

But opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson on Thursday said the Coalition still backed a “two-state solution negotiated between the parties in Israel and Palestine”.

“We would have to understand more about it, but it hasn’t changed our longstanding view,” he told Sky News.

Mr Trump did not rule out deploying US troops to Gaza to achieve his goals.

Asked if he thought Mr Trump’s proposal would breach international law, Senator Paterson said he was “not an expert in international law” and would not “provide international legal advice to the President based on one press conference that I’ve seen and some initial comments and thoughts”.

Opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson has reaffirmed the Coalition’s support for a two-state solution. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“I think we do have to recognise the status quo has failed,” he said.

“It’s failed for Israelis, it’s failed for Palestinians, and Hamas’ continued role in Gaza is an enormous obstacle to a two-state solution and peace in the region.”

Several Middle East governments swiftly condemned the policy shift, warning that an influx of Palestinians to nearby countries would destabilise the region.

But Peter Dutton said he thought Mr Trump “genuinely wants to see a chance of peace” and for “the region to step up”.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says he thinks US President Donald Trump wants the Middle East to ‘step up’. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

“I think he’s serious about making sure that there’s not a threat to Israel and we can’t have another repeat of October 7 because it was the biggest attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust, and I think he genuinely wants to see a chance of peace, he wants to see people living not in squalor but living in a safe environment with good housing for their children,” the Opposition Leader told Sydney’s 2GB.

“I think … he wants other countries in the region to step up and take responsibility, as he’s done with NATO in Europe, asking them to spend more on their defence budgets to protect themselves, instead of always relying on the United States.”