Washington DC - President Donald Trump's shock proposal for the US to seize the Gaza Strip and ethnically cleanse it of its people faced a resounding rejection from Palestinians, Middle East leaders, and governments around the world on Wednesday.

Trump made his announcement to audible gasps during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom he was hosting at the White House for talks even as the International Criminal Court is seeking his arrest over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

In a proposal that lacked details but clearly implied committing the war crime of forced displacement, Trump said he would make the war-battered enclave "unbelievable" by removing unexploded bombs and rubble, and economically redeveloping it.

"The US will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it, too. We'll own it," he said.

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He said there was support from the "highest leadership" in the Middle East for his idea, but hours later, the leaders of Hamas, the Palestinian Authority, Egypt, Turkey, China, Britain, France, and Germany hit back.

Netanyahu, however, welcomed the idea, saying it could "change history" and was worth "paying attention to."

Suggesting "long-term ownership" by the United States, Trump said his idea would make it "the Riviera of the Middle East. This could be something that could be so magnificent."

Much of Gaza was levelled in a 15-month campaign of mass killing and destruction launched by Israel, which faces a torrent of accusations of genocide. Trump has repeatedly claimed credit for sealing a ceasefire agreement that took effect last month.

While Netanyahu's visit to the White House was billed to focus on a second phase of the truce, it quickly turned into the revelation of the imperialistic proposal. Trump, who also floated travelling to Gaza, explicitly said the territory would not be rebuilt for Palestinians.

"It should not go through a process of rebuilding and occupation by the same people that have... lived there and died there and lived a miserable existence there," he said.

Hamas, which took sole control of Gaza in 2007, rejected the proposal, branding it racist.

The group said the proposal to occupy the territory was "aggressive to our people and cause, won't serve stability in the region and will only put oil on the fire."

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas rejected the proposal, saying that "legitimate Palestinian rights are not negotiable" and that it would constitute a "serious violation" of international law.

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UN human rights chief Volker Turk said that deporting people from occupied territory was "strictly prohibited" under international law.

It is not the first time that Trump has suggested Palestinians should be displaced from their homes. In recent days, he has cited Egypt and Jordan as possible destinations.

Both states outright rejected the notion, as has Saudi Arabia, which said it would not formalize ties with Israel without a Palestinian state and opposed "attempts to displace the Palestinian people from their land".

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan also lashed out, saying that relocating Palestinians was something "neither we nor the region can accept".

"They must be allowed home," UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said. "They must be allowed to rebuild, and we should be with them in that rebuild on the way to a two-state solution."

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Gaza "belongs to the Palestinians", while Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said: "We are opposed to the forced transfer of the residents of Gaza."

Most importantly, the Palestinian people spelled out exactly where they stand on the issue.

"We create dignity because we are the dignity here, and we say in short to Trump and Netanyahu, Palestine is not for sale," 24-year-old Gazan Ahmed al-Minawi said.