- Palestinian President, Hamas and Jordanian FM react to ‘suggestion’ with suspicion
WASHINGTON/CAIRO: US President Donald Trump has said that he would like to “just clean out” Gaza, urging Egypt and Jordan to take in more Palestinians from the coastal enclave, according to media reports.
The remarks came as he said that Jordan and Egypt should take more Palestinians from Gaza, a suggestion which drew strong reaction from different quarters, including Hamas and even rebuffed by the Jordanian foreign minister and the Egyptian president.
The US President said Jordan and Egypt should take more Palestinians from war-ravaged Gaza.
Asked if this was a temporary or long-term solution for Gaza, where Israel’s military assault has caused a dire humanitarian situation and killed tens of thousands, Trump said on Saturday: “Could be either.”
Speaking with reporters on board Air Force One yesterday, Trump said he had had a call earlier in the day with King Abdullah II of Jordan and would speak with Egypt President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi later today.
“I would like Egypt to take people. You’re talking about probably a million and a half people, and we just clean out that whole thing and say: ‘You know, it’s over.’”
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has repeatedly called for the return of Jewish settlers to Gaza, welcomed Trump’s call as “an excellent idea” and said he would work to develop a plan to implement it.
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas has condemned “any projects” to relocate the people of Gaza outside the territory after US President Donald Trump suggested moving them to Egypt and Jordan, AFP reports.
Without naming the US leader, Abbas “expressed strong rejection and condemnation of any projects aimed at displacing our people from the Gaza Strip”, a statement from his office said, adding that the Palestinian people “will not abandon their land and holy sites”.
A Hamas official reacted with suspicion, echoing long-standing Palestinian fears about being driven permanently from their homes.
Palestinians “will not accept any offers or solutions, even if (such offers) appear to have good intentions under the guise of reconstruction, as announced in the proposals of U.S. President Trump,” Basem Naim, a member of the Hamas political bureau, told Reuters.
Another Hamas official, Sami Abu Zuhri, urged Trump not to repeat “failed” ideas tried by his predecessor Joe Biden.
“The people of Gaza have endured death and refused to leave their homeland and they will not leave it regardless of any other reasons,” Abu Zuhri told Reuters.
Jordan also appeared to reject Trump’s suggestion, with its Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi telling reporters that the country’s stance against any displacement of Palestinians from Gaza remains “firm and unwavering”.
Ayman Safadi says Jordan’s rejection of any displacement of Palestinians is “firm and unwavering”, in what seemed to be a veiled response to US President Donald Trump’s suggestion that Egypt and Jordan should take displaced Palestinians from Gaza, Al Jazeera reports.
Jordan is already home to about 2.3 million registered Palestinian refugees, according to the United Nations.
Palestinian analyst Ghassan al-Khatib said Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, as well as the Jordanians and Egyptians, would reject Trump’s plan: “I don’t think that there is a place in reality for such an idea.”
Washington had said last year it opposed the forcible displacement of Palestinians. Rights groups and humanitarian agencies have for months raised concerns over the situation in Gaza, with the war displacing nearly the entire population and leading to a hunger crisis.
Washington has also faced criticism for backing Israel but has maintained support for its ally, saying it is helping Israel defend itself against Iranian-backed militant groups like Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.
