Fears of ethnic cleansing while Trump asks Jordan and Egypt to receive Gaza residents | News of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

US President Donald Trump said he would just like to “cleanse” Gaza, and urged Egypt and Jordan to take in more Palestinians from the coastal enclave.

Speaking with reporters aboard Air Force One on Saturday, Trump said he had a phone call earlier in the day with Jordanian King Abdullah II and would speak with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi later on Sunday.

“I would like Egypt to receive the people,” Trump said. “You’re talking probably about a million and a half people, and we write this whole thing off and say, ‘You know, it’s over.’”

Trump said that he praised Jordan for its success in accepting Palestinian refugees, and that he told the king: “I would like you to take in more, because I look at the entire Gaza Strip right now, and it is in chaos.” “It’s a real mess.”

Israel Genocide in Gaza This led to the displacement of approximately 2.3 million people in Gaza, some multiple times. Trump said that Gazans may be transferred “temporarily or it may be long-term.”

“It’s effectively a demolition site right now,” he said. “Almost everything has been demolished and people are dying there.”

“So, I would rather partner with some Arab countries and build housing in a different location, where they can live in peace for a change.”

But Abdullah Al-Erian, an associate professor of history at Georgetown University in Qatar, told Al Jazeera that Israeli officials indicated “very early in the war” the “ethnic cleansing” of as much Palestinian territory as possible.

“This plan failed for multiple reasons, one of which was that the Arab leaders contacted at the time simply refused to accept an additional number of Palestinian refugees, partly because this plan was politically unworkable in Egypt in particular, which “It has been put forward as a potential destination for mass ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Gaza.”

Al-Erian said that the Palestinians themselves would not be interested in such a proposal by Trump. “They know very well what it means to leave their homeland and what the situation of Palestinian refugees has been like over the past 70 years,” he said, adding that the US president’s statements “should not be taken seriously.”

Meanwhile, far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich welcomed Trump’s idea to move Gazans to Egypt and Jordan.

“The idea of ​​helping them find other places to start a better life is a great idea. After years of glorifying terrorism, they will be able to establish new and good lives in other places,” Smotrich said in a statement.

“Only unconventional thinking with new solutions will bring a solution to peace and security,” he said.

“With God’s help, I will work with the prime minister and the government to ensure that there is a practical plan to implement this as quickly as possible,” Smotrich said.

For Palestinians, any attempt to move them from Gaza would trigger dark memories of what they call the “Nakba” – the mass displacement of Palestinians during the creation of Israel in 1948.

Egypt had previously warned against any “forced displacement” of Palestinians from Gaza to the Sinai Desert, which Sisi said could jeopardize the peace treaty that Egypt signed with Israel in 1979.

Jordan already hosts about 2.3 million registered Palestinian refugees, according to the United Nations.

Sending 2,000 pound bombs

The 15-month Israeli war on the Palestinian Strip resulted in the deaths of more than 47,000 people, although residents and activists say the actual number may be much higher. The continuous bombing also left many people abandoned The lands are in ruinsThe United Nations estimates that reconstruction will take many years.

However, Trump also said he had ended his predecessor’s ban on sending 2,000-pound (907 kg) bombs to Israel. “We released them today,” Trump said of the bombs. “They’ve been waiting for them for a long time.”

When asked why the ban on those bombs was lifted, Trump replied: “Because they bought them.”

Then-President Joe Biden had suspended the delivery of those bombs due to concerns about their impact on the civilian population.

A 2000 lb bomb Its destruction radius is 35 meters (115 feet), according to the Project Defense Alternatives (PDA).

The United States has historically provided significant foreign aid to Israel; A total of $297 billion (inflation-adjusted) between 1946 and 2023, including $216 billion in military aid and $81 billion in economic aid, according to USAID data.

Israel is The largest cumulative beneficiaries of American aid since its founding.

A Ceasefire in Gaza It came into force a week ago and led to the release of some Israeli prisoners in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.