U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday 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 U.S. troops would be needed on the ground.

A day after worldwide condemnation of Trump’s announcement that he aimed to take over and develop the Gaza Strip into the “Riviera of the Middle East”, Israel ordered its army to prepare to allow the “voluntary departure” of Gaza’s residents.