US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said on Monday that the United States rejects the reoccupation of Gaza or any part of it by Israel as a result of the war that Israel is currently waging.

“We have seen these reports (about reoccupation or separating the south from the north); let me first and foremost emphasize very clearly that we do not want to see Gaza occupied by Israel. We do not want to see the territory of Gaza shrink in any way on a permanent basis,” Miller said in response to a question from a Quds.com correspondent about the current operation being carried out by the Israeli occupation army, especially in its quest to separate the north from the south, and to create buffer zones or for military or settlement concentration.

“When it comes to these reports (of Israeli control of Gaza or parts of it), we are engaging with the government of Israel to see exactly what they intend to do,” Miller said. “But I would say, in general, that we want to see people in Gaza able to return to their neighborhoods, not have to leave their neighborhoods.”

“Now, if there are Hamas militants operating under an apartment building, before Israel attacks those militants, I think you would want to see civilians evacuated,” Miller added. “That would be a good thing for those civilians, to see that they are out of harm’s way. But it goes back to this broader point that I made, which is that as long as you don’t have a political path forward and you don’t have a resolution to the real issues of governance, you can kill Hamas militants, but Hamas will continue to recruit other militants, you will continue to endanger the Palestinian people, and you will continue to endanger the security of Israel as well.”

“We want to see a ceasefire that brings the hostages home, alleviates the suffering of the Palestinian people, and allows humanitarian aid to flow into Gaza,” Miller said. “We want to see an agreement on a political path forward that ensures that the Palestinians choose their own leaders, and that Hamas no longer rules Gaza as a terrorist organization. Ultimately, we want to see Gaza and the West Bank united as an independent Palestinian state.”

In a related matter, former President Donald Trump (and Republican Party candidate in the upcoming elections on 5/11) said on the occasion of the one-year anniversary of October 7, 2023, in an interview with broadcaster Hugh Hewitt, who asked Trump, if Gaza, large areas of which were destroyed during Israeli air and ground strikes, could be “Monaco if it was rebuilt the right way? And be a place that all Palestinians would be proud of and want to live in?” Trump replied, “It could be better than Monaco. It has the best location in the Middle East, the best water, the best everything. It’s the best, I’ve said that for years. I’ve been there, and it’s tough. It’s a tough place, before, you know, before all the attacks and before everything that’s happened over the last two years.”

"They never took advantage of it. You know, as a developer, it could be the most beautiful place, the weather, the water, everything, the climate. It could be so beautiful... it could be one of the best places in the world," he continued.

The New York Times reported that there is no record of Trump visiting Gaza at all, during his presidency or as a businessman.

In 2017, his first year in office, Trump visited Israel and traveled to the West Bank, meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem.

Commenting on Trump's claims of visiting Gaza, a Republican campaign official, who declined to be identified, said, "Gaza is in Israel" and that he had visited Israel.