Senate Republicans are panning President Trump’s proposal for the United States to take over war-torn Gaza and push nearly 2 million Palestinians in the region to resettle elsewhere, with several GOP lawmakers dismissing the plan as unrealistic.

Even so, some GOP lawmakers are praising Trump for coming up with “fresh ideas” to address a bloody conflict spanning decades that has defied years of American effort to broker peace.

Republican senators say Trump’s proposal to turn Gaza into the “Riviera of the Middle East” is gaining little traction on Capitol Hill and predict it won’t go anywhere, just like his plans to acquire Greenland and seize control of the Panama Canal.

“I think it’s a really dumb idea to talk about having U.S. troops in Gaza. It’s the last place on earth I’d send U.S. troops and I won’t support it,” said Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.).

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), one of Trump’s closest Senate allies, warned that a U.S.-led attempt to remove Palestinians from Gaza would be “very problematic.”

“All I can say is I want to destroy Hamas, but I’ve been on the phone with Arabs all day. That approach I think will be very problematic. The idea of Americans going in on the ground in Gaza is a nonstarter for every senator,” Graham said.

“I would suggest we go back to what we’ve been trying to do: Destroy Hamas and find a way for the Arab world to take over Gaza and the West Bank in a fashion that would lead to a Palestinian state Israel could live with,”........

© The Hill