Articles of impeachment 'being filed' against Donald Trump over his plans to take control of Gaza
Less than a month into President Donald Trump's second term in the Oval Office and steps have already began to impeach him.
It comes after the Republican unveiled his plans to 'own' the Gaza Strip in a bid to bring 'stability' to the Middle East, all while displacing the two million Palestinians who call Gaza home.
What has Donald Trump said about Gaza?
During a press conference at the White House on Tuesday (February 4) where he was joined by the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, the 47th POTUS revealed his plans to 'take over' the Gaza Strip, while refusing to rule out US military action.
"The only reason the Palestinians want to go back to Gaza is they have no alternative, it’s right now a demolition site," he said.
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"This is just a demolition site. Virtually every building is down."
Trump expressed his plans to displace all of the Palestinians to neighbouring counties including Egypt and Jordan.
"The US will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it, too," he added.
"We’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site."
He went on to attempt to spin his proposal positively saying he'd develop the Gaza strip and would 'create thousands and thousands of jobs, and it’ll be something that the entire Middle East can be very proud of'.
Impeachment papers 'being prepared' against Trump
Trump's plan has been met with widespread backlash, with several human rights advocates branding it 'ethnic cleansing by another name'.
Chris Van Hollen, Democratic senator for Maryland, said: “Trump’s proposal to push 2 million Palestinians out of Gaza and take ‘ownership’ by force, if necessary, is simply ethnic cleansing by another name.
“This declaration will give ammunition to Iran and other adversaries while undermining our Arab partners in the region. It defies decades of bipartisan American support for a two-state solution... Congress must stand up to this dangerous and reckless scheme.”
And now, Al Green, a representative of Texas, has slammed Trump for proposing to remove Palestinians from their home and taking control of what he called the 'Riviera of the Middle East'.
“Ethnic cleansing in Gaza is not a joke, especially when it emanates from the President of the United States, the most powerful person in the world,” he said.
"And the prime minister of Israel should be ashamed, knowing the history of his people, to stand there and allow such things to be said.
“Dr [Martin Luther] King was right. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, and injustice in Gaza is a threat to justice in the United States of America."
Adding: "I rise to announce that the movement to impeach the president has begun. I rise to announce that I will bring articles of impeachment against the president for dastardly deeds proposed, and dastardly deeds done."
"[The] impeachment movement is going to be a grass-up movement, not a top-down.
"When the people demand it, it will be done."
So, what happens now?
Once Green has brought the articles (AKA charges) of impeachment against Trump, the House of Representatives will cast a vote. If a majority votes in favor, Trump would be impeached.
The Senate then holds an impeachment trial, which the US Supreme Court chief justice would preside over due to the fact it concerns the president.
If found guilty, Trump would be removed from office.
However, experts reckon that Green won't have much luck with his efforts to impeach the president, with Pete Aguilar, the No 3 House Democrat, telling Politico it was not 'an immediate focus of his caucus', with the general consensus being that impeachment is not on Democrats' radar right now.
It isn't the first impeachment Green has come up against Trump - in his first term in office he attempted to file multiple impeachments against him.
Trump has been impeached in 2019 and again in 2021, making him the first US president to ever be impeached twice.
Topics: Politics, US News, Donald Trump
Joe Yates