US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said countries denouncing President Donald Trump's comments on Gaza should step forward and help the battered Palestinian territory.
Arab countries and Palestinian leaders have voiced strong opposition to Mr Trump's suggestion that the two million residents of Gaza move out after the devastating war.
Mr Rubio again insisted that Mr Trump was offering reconstruction, as Gaza for now is "uninhabitable".
He said Mr Trump's controversial remarks were aimed in part to encourage other countries that "have both the economic and technological capacity" to help as well with rebuilding.
"President Trump has offered to go in and be a part of that solution," Mr Rubio told reporters in the Dominican Republic.
"If some other countries are willing to step forward and do it themselves, that would be great, but no one seems to be rushing forward to do that," he said.
"There are countries in the region who express a lot of concern about the Palestinian people.
"We encourage them to step forward and find a solution and answer to their problem."
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Earlier Mr Trump said that Israel would hand over Gaza to the United States after fighting was over and the enclave's population was already resettled elsewhere, which he said meant no US troops would be needed on the ground.
A day after worldwide condemnation of Mr Trump's announcement that he aimed to take over and develop Gaza into the "Riviera of the Middle East", Israel ordered its army to prepare to allow the "voluntary departure" of Gaza's residents.
Mr Trump, who had previously declined to rule out deploying US troops to Gaza, clarified his plans in comments on his Truth Social web platform.
"The Gaza Strip would be turned over to the United States by Israel at the conclusion of fighting," he said, adding that Palestinians "would have already been resettled in far safer and more beautiful communities, with new and modern homes, in the region".
"No soldiers by the US would be needed!" he said.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem warned that Mr Trump's plan was a "declaration of intent to occupy" the Palestinian territory.
The Palestinian militant group also called for "an urgent Arab summit to confront the displacement" of Palestinians from Gaza, Mr Qassem said in a statement.
Hamas's spokesman condemned Mr Trump's statements as "absolutely unacceptable".
"Gaza is for its people and they will not leave," he said.
Earlier, amid a tide of support in Israel for what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Mr Trump's "remarkable" proposal, Defence Minister Israel Katz said he had ordered the army to prepare a plan to allow residents who wished to leave to exit Gaza voluntarily.
"I welcome President Trump's bold plan, Gaza residents should be allowed the freedom to leave and emigrate, as is the norm around the world," Mr Katz said on X.
Mr Katz said his plan would include exit options via land crossings, as well as special arrangements for departure by sea and air.
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Mr Trump's unexpected announcement, which sparked anger around the Middle East, came as Israel and Hamas were expected to begin talks in Doha on the second stage of a ceasefire deal for Gaza, intended to open the way for a full withdrawal of Israeli forces and an end to the war.
The Egyptian government said it rejected and will not be part of any proposal to displace Palestinians from Gaza.
Apparently referring to Mr Katz's order, the Egypt’s foreign ministry said: "Egypt stresses the catastrophic consequences of this irresponsible act which weakens the ceasefire negotiations, and would squash them and incite a return of fighting."
Regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia rejected the proposal outright and Jordan's King Abdullah, who will meet Mr Trump at the White House next week, said he rejected any attempts to annex land and displace Palestinians.
Russia’s foreign ministry said the plans were shocking and would ramp up tensions in the Middle East.
"We will not sell our land for you, real estate developer. We are hungry, homeless, and desperate but we are not collaborators," said Abdel Ghani, a father of four living with his family in the ruins of their Gaza City home. "If (Trump) wants to help, let him come and rebuild for us here."
Details of plan remain vague
What effect Mr Trump's shock proposal may have on the ceasefire talks is still unclear. Only 13 of a group of 33 Israeli hostages due for release in the first phase have so far been returned, with three more due to come out on Saturday. Five Thai hostages have also been released.
Hamas official Basem Naim accused Mr Katz of trying to cover up "for a state that has failed to achieve any of its objectives in the war on Gaza", and said Palestinians are too attached to their land to ever leave.
Displacement of Palestinians has been one of the most sensitive issues in the Middle East for decades. Forced or coerced displacement of a population under military occupation is a war crime, banned under the 1949 Geneva Conventions.
Details of how any such plan might work have been vague.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said different thinking was needed on Gaza's future but that any departures would have to be voluntary and states would have to be willing to take them.
"We don't have details yet, but we can talk about principles," Mr Saar told a news conference with his Italian counterpart Antonio Tajani. "Everything must be based on the free will of (the) individual and, on the other hand, of a will of a state that is ready to absorb," he said.
A number of hardline Israeli politicians have openly called for Palestinians to be moved from Gaza and there was strong support for Mr Trump's push among both security hawks and the Jewish settler movement.
Giora Eiland, a former general who attracted wide attention in an earlier stage of the war with his "Generals' Plan" for a forced displacement of people from northern Gaza, said Mr Trump's plan was "logical" and aid should not be allowed to reach displaced people returning to northern Gaza.
Mr Katz said countries that have opposed Israel's military operations in Gaza should take in the Palestinians.
"Countries like Spain, Ireland, Norway, and others, which have levelled accusations and false claims against Israel over its actions in Gaza, are legally obligated to allow any Gaza resident to enter their territories," he said.
Tánaiste Simon Harris described the comments as a distraction.
Israel's military campaign killed tens of thousands of people after Hamas' 7 October 7 2023 attack on Israel triggered the war.
It has forced Palestinians to repeatedly move around within Gaza, seeking safety.
But many say they will never leave the enclave because they fear permanent displacement, like the "Nakba", or catastrophe, when hundreds of thousands were dispossessed from homes in the war at the birth of the state of Israel in 1948.
