There is "almost nothing left" of Gaza and rebuilding the war-ravaged enclave could take 10 to 15 years, U.S. President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff told Axios in an interview at the end of his trip to the region on Thursday.

The president expanded on a controversial idea that was rejected by the Arab states and would represent a significant shift in U.S. policy.

Trump floated the idea on Saturday, saying he would urge the leaders of the two Arab countries to take in Gaza’s now largely homeless population, so that “we just clean out that whole thing.”