Trump says Jordan and Egypt should take in Palestinians from Gaza, they refused

(Patria) - US President Donald Trump said Jordan and Egypt should take in Palestinians from war-torn Gaza, which was rejected by Palestinian Hamas, Jordan and Egypt, Reuters reported.

When asked if this was a temporary or long-term solution for Gaza, where the Israeli military offensive has caused a severe humanitarian situation and killed tens of thousands of people, he said: "It could be either".

Jordan is already home to several million Palestinians, while tens of thousands live in Egypt. Both countries and other Arab nations reject the idea of relocating Palestinians from Gaza to their countries. Gaza is land that Palestinians would want as part of a future Palestinian state.

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 on developing a plan for its implementation.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected such ideas advocated by Smotrich. A Hamas official reiterated long-standing Palestinian fears of being permanently expelled from their homes.

Palestinians "will not accept any offers or solutions, even if such offers seem to have good intentions under the guise of reconstruction, as announced in the proposals of US President Trump," Basem Naim, a member of Hamas's political bureau, told Reuters.

Another Hamas official, Sami Abu Zuhri, urged Trump not to repeat "failed" ideas that his predecessor Joe Biden tried. "The people of Gaza have suffered death and refused to leave their homeland and will not leave it for any other reason," he told Reuters.

Jordan also rejected Trump's proposal. Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said the country's stance against any displacement of Palestinians from Gaza remains "firm and unwavering".

Egypt's Ministry of Foreign Affairs followed suit, saying it categorically rejects any displacement of Palestinians from their land, whether "short-term or long-term".
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, backed by the West, condemned Trump's statements.

"Our people will remain steadfast and will not leave their homeland," according to a statement released by the official Palestinian news agency WAFA.

Trump's conversation, Smotrich's plan

Referring to a conversation he had with Jordanian King Abdullah on Saturday, Trump told reporters: "I told him I would like you to take more because I'm looking at the whole Gaza Strip right now and it's a mess, it's a real mess, I'd like you to take the people."

"I'd like Egypt to take the people" and said he would talk to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

"You're talking about a million and a half people, and we've fixed that whole thing," Trump said.

The population of the Palestinian enclave before the start of the war between Israel and Gaza was about 2.3 million.

Washington said last year it opposed the forced displacement of Palestinians. Human rights groups and humanitarian agencies have expressed concern for months about the situation in Gaza, as the war has displaced almost the entire population and led to a hunger crisis.

"It's literally a place of destruction, almost everything is destroyed and people are dying there, so I'd rather engage with some Arab nations and build housing facilities in another location where they could perhaps live in peace for a change," Trump said on Saturday.

Smotrich, who said only "thinking outside the box" could achieve peace, said Trump's plan would give Palestinians "an opportunity to build new and better lives elsewhere".

"With God's help, I will work with the Prime Minister and the cabinet to develop an operational plan for its implementation as soon as possible," he said.

On social media platform X, Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, said: "Ethnic cleansing is anything but thinking outside the box, no matter how one packages it. It is illegal, immoral, and irresponsible."