Palestinians have no alternative but to leave Gaza, says Trump

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Palestinians have no alternative but to leave Gaza and he would like to see neighboring countries Jordan and Egypt take the displaced Palestinians.

He also signed a document to stop US engagement with the United Nations Human Rights Council and continue a halt to funding for the UN Palestinian relief agency UNRWA.

Also on Tuesday, Trump restored his “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran that includes efforts to drive its oil exports down to zero in order to stop Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

He signed a presidential memorandum reimposing a tough policy on Iran meant to block the country from achieving a nuclear weapon and to limit its oil exports.

Speaking at the Oval Office in the White House, Trump said Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon and that the US has the right to block the sale of Iranian oil to other nations.

As he signed the memo, Trump described it as very tough and said he was torn on whether to make the move. He said Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon and he hopes that a deal can be worked out with Tehran.

He also said that he would be willing to meet with his Iranian counterpart to try to persuade Iran to give up what the United States believes are Tehran’s efforts to develop a nuclear weapon.

Trump has accused former President Joe Biden of failing to rigorously enforce oil-export sanctions, which Trump says emboldened Tehran by allowing it to sell oil to fund a nuclear weapons program and armed militias in the Middle East.

Iran is “dramatically” accelerating enrichment of uranium to up to 60% purity, close to the roughly 90% weapons-grade level, the UN nuclear watchdog chief told Reuters in December. Iran has denied wanting to develop a nuclear weapon.

Trump’s memo, among other things, orders the US Treasury secretary to impose “maximum economic pressure” on Iran, including sanctions and enforcement mechanisms on those violating existing sanctions.

It also directs the Treasury and State Department to implement a campaign aimed at “driving Iran’s oil exports to zero.” US oil prices pared losses on Tuesday on the news that Trump planned to sign the memo, which offset some weakness from the tariff drama between Washington and Beijing.