Trump says no Palestinians will be expelled from Gaza as he presses takeover plan

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that no Palestinians will be expelled from the besieged Gaza Strip even as he continues to pursue his plan to take over the coastal enclave.

"Nobody is expelling any Palestinians," Trump said in response to a reporter's question as he hosted Irish leader Micheal Martin in the Oval Office.

The president's comments come after Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Sunday that Tel Aviv would open a new "Emigration Authority" office under the Defense Ministry to manage the forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, according to multiple media reports. He said the plan has the support of the Trump administration.

“Various officials in the administration told me again and again, ‘We will not allow 2 million Nazis to live just beyond the fence,'” he said, referring to Palestinians in Gaza. “Not too long ago, it was taboo to speak about people leaving Gaza, but now the people who were crazy are the most realistic.”

"Not only is it realistic, but it's the only plan that's realistic," he added, according to the Washington Post newspaper.

The minister, who has gone so far as to deny the very existence of the Palestinian people, said Tel Aviv is working with the US administration to determine which countries will receive those forcibly displaced from Gaza.

The highly controversial proposal comes after Trump proposed in February taking ownership of Gaza, removing Palestinians from their homeland and re-settling them elsewhere. The plan has been widely panned by nations around the world, and criticized as a form of ethnic cleansing.