Jordan, Egypt reject taking Gazans
ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE—US President Donald Trump said Jordan and Egypt should take in Palestinians from war-ravaged Gaza but was rebuffed by Amman and Cairo.
Referring to a call he had on Saturday with Jordan’s King Abdullah, Trump told reporters: “I said to him I’d love you to take on 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 him to take people.”
He added, “I’d like Egypt to take people,” and said he would speak to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Sunday.
“You’re talking about a million and half people, and we just clean out that whole thing,” Trump said.
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.”
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 Palestinians in Gaza being moved to their countries.
Gaza is land that Palestinians would want as part of a future Palestinian state.
A Hamas official echoed 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 US 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’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told reporters that the country’s stance against any displacement of Palestinians from Gaza remains “firm and unwavering.”
Egypt’s foreign ministry followed suit, saying it categorically rejects any displacement of Palestinians from their land, be it “short term or long term”.
Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned Trump’s remarks. “Our people will remain steadfast and will not leave their homeland,” said a statement published by the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.
‘No place in reality’
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.”
“It’s literally a demolition site, almost everything is demolished and people are dying there, so I’d rather get involved with some of the Arab nations and build housing at a different location where they can maybe live in peace for a change,” Trump said on Saturday.
The population in the Palestinian enclave prior to the start of the Israel-Gaza war was around 2.3 million.
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.
The Palestinian people firmly believe that this land is theirs, this soil is their soil,” said Magdy Seidam.
The current Gaza conflict was triggered on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s subsequent military assault on Gaza has killed more than 47,000 people, according to the Hamas health ministry. The fighting has currently paused amid a fragile ceasefire.
