Trump wants Egypt and Jordan to take in Palestinians
BBC News, Jerusalem
ReutersUS President Donald Trump has said he wants Egypt and Jordan to take in Palestinians from Gaza, which he has called a “demolition site”.
Trump said in a phone call this weekend that he had told Jordan’s King Abdullah: “I want you to take more responsibility because I see the entire Gaza Strip right now, it’s a mess, it’s a real mess,” he said He plans to make a similar request to Egypt’s president on Sunday.
He said the move “could be temporary” or “long-term.”
Hamas has vowed to oppose any such action and the comments are likely to anger Gaza’s Palestinians, who consider the territory their ancestral home.
“Our Palestinian people in Gaza have endured death and destruction for 15 months… without leaving their land. Therefore, they will not accept any proposals or solutions, even if they appear to be rebuilding Good intentions in name only, as the United States announced President Trump’s proposal,” Hamas politburo member Bassem Naim told the BBC.
He added: “Our people, just as they have blocked all plans for displacement and replacement homes for decades, will also block such projects.”
The 15-month war with Israel has displaced most of Gaza’s 2 million residents and resulted in much of Gaza’s infrastructure being razed to the ground.
USEPAThe United Nations has previously estimated that 60% of buildings in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed, and reconstruction may take decades.
Trump made the remarks to reporters aboard Air Force One.
“You’re talking about maybe a million and a half people and we’re just cleaning up the whole thing,” he said.
“Almost everything has been demolished and people are dying there. So I would rather work with some Arab countries to build housing in different places and maybe they can live peacefully for a change.”
Trump did not provide further details about the proposal, and the official White House readout of the call did not mention the subject.
Asked about Trump’s remarks, Abu Yahya Rashid, a displaced person in the southern city of Khan Younis, said:
“We are the ones who decide our destiny and what we want. This land is ours, the property of our ancestors in history. We will not leave it except as corpses.”
For decades, U.S. foreign policy has been focused on creating a Palestinian state, of which Gaza is a key part. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reject this.
The United States has previously said it opposes any effort to force Palestinians to leave Gaza or the occupied West Bank. Then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last year: “They cannot, must not, be forced to leave Gaza.”
According to the United Nations, more than 2 million Palestinian refugees live in Jordan, most of whom have been granted citizenship. They are descendants of some 750,000 Palestinians who fled or were forced from their homes during the conflict surrounding the founding of Israel.
Thousands of Palestinians have fled to Egypt since the war with Israel began, but Egypt does not recognize them as refugees.
In October 2023, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi Says he rejects any forced displacement of Palestinians Going into Sinai, the only solution was for the Palestinians to establish an independent state.
Some Israeli far-rightists want to return to Gaza and establish settlements there. In 2005, Israel ordered a unilateral withdrawal, and the army dismantled 21 settlements and evacuated about 9,000 settlers.
Far-right former national security minister Itamar Ben-Gwir said he praised Trump’s “moves to move residents from Gaza to Jordan and Egypt.”
“One of our demands from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to promote voluntary migration,” he wrote on X.
Mr Trump’s comments came after Displaced people delayed in returning home Clashes broke out in northern Gaza after Israel accused Hamas of violating the terms of a ceasefire agreement.
One anxiously waiting man told the BBC: “There’s nothing there – no life, everything is destroyed. But it’s still a huge joy to be back on your land, back in your home.”
In separate comments aboard Air Force One, Trump said he was done with former president Joe Biden controls supply of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel.
“They paid, they’ve been waiting a long time,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One.
The United States is by far Israel’s largest arms supplier and has helped Israel build one of the most technologically advanced militaries in the world.
But the war in Gaza has led to renewed calls for the United States to reduce or stop arms shipments to Israel because of the extent of the damage American weapons are causing in the region.
