Trump’s proposal that Egypt and Jordan absorb Palestinians from Gaza sparks rejection and confusion

Doral, Florida — US President Donald Trump’s efforts to get Egypt and Jordan to receive large numbers of Palestinian refugees from the besieged Gaza failed with the governments of these two countries, leaving a key ally in Congress in Washington confused on Sunday.

The fighting that broke out in the region after Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023 is Stopped due to the fragile ceasefireBut most Gazans have been left homeless due to the Israeli military campaign. Trump told reporters Saturday aboard Air Force One that moving about 1.5 million people away from Gaza could mean “we clean up this whole thing.”

Mr. Trump relayed what he told Jordanian King Abdullah when the two had a phone call earlier Saturday: “I told him, ‘I would love for you to take on more because I’m looking at the whole Gaza Strip right now, and it’s a mess.’”

He said he was making a similar appeal to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi during a conversation he had while Trump was at his Doral resort in Florida on Sunday. Trump said, “I would like Egypt to take people, and I would like Jordan to take people.”

Hamas, Egypt and Jordan reject Trump’s proposal regarding Gaza

Hundreds of thousands of displaced people On Monday, Israeli forces allowed the Palestinians to begin their return To their cities and villages in the devastated northern half of Gaza, leading to a mass exodus that was seen as a strong rejection of the concept of any mass deportation from Gaza.

In a statement posted online on Monday, Abdul Latif al-Qanua, spokesman for Hamas, which the United States and Israel designate as a terrorist group and which has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades, said the scenes of people returning in large numbers to the north “represent another spectacle.” . The occupation failed to achieve the goals of the war of genocide and destruction, and a message of challenge to any new attempt to displace them.

Al-Qanou’ said: “The steadfastness of our people on their land and their return from the south of the Gaza Strip to its north represents the end of the Zionist dream of displacing them and liquidating their just cause.”

Egypt and Jordan, along with the Palestinians, are concerned that Israel will never allow Palestinians to return to Gaza if they are forced to leave. Both Egypt and Jordan also face perpetually faltering economies, and their governments, as well as those of other Arab countries, fear widespread destabilization in their countries and the region from any such influx of refugees.

Jordan already hosts more than two million Palestinian refugees. Egypt warned of the security repercussions of transferring large numbers of Palestinians to the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula adjacent to Gaza.

Mr. Trump noted that resettlement of most of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents could be temporary or long-term.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said on Sunday that his country’s opposition to what Trump proposed was “firm and consistent.”

Some Israeli officials had raised the idea early in the war.

The Egyptian Foreign Minister issued a statement saying that the temporary or long-term transfer of Palestinians “risks expanding the conflict in the region.”

In the statement, the Ministry renewed “Egypt’s commitment to the principles and standards of a political solution to the Palestinian issue, stressing that it remains the central issue in the Middle East region. Its solution, ending the occupation, and recovering stolen goods have been delayed.” The rights of the Palestinian people are the root cause of instability in the region.

“In this context, Egypt affirms its continued support for the steadfastness of the Palestinian people on their land and their adherence to their legitimate rights to their land and homeland, as well as the principles of international law and international humanitarian law. It also affirms its rejection of any violation of these inalienable rights, whether through settlement activities, land annexation, or Expelling their legal owners through displacement or encouraging the transfer or uprooting of Palestinians from their lands, whether temporarily or permanently.

Mr. Trump has some influence over Jordan, which is strapped for debt but is a strategically important ally of the United States and relies heavily on foreign aid. Historically, the United States is the largest provider of this assistance, including more than $1.6 billion through the State Department in 2023. Much of that comes as support to Jordanian security forces and direct budget support.

In return, Jordan has been a vital regional partner for the United States as it attempts to help maintain stability in the region. Jordan hosts about three thousand American soldiers. However, on Friday, new Secretary of State Marco Rubio exempted security assistance to Israel and Egypt, but not to Jordan when he laid out details of the deal. The foreign aid freeze ordered by Mr. Trump On his first day in office.

European officials’ reaction to Trump’s proposal

The German government also rejected the idea of ​​a mass displacement of Palestinians on Monday, with a Foreign Ministry spokesman telling reporters in Berlin that the country shares the view of “the European Union, our Arab partners, and the United Nations… the Palestinian population should not be expelled from Gaza, and Israel should not occupy Gaza.” permanently or recolonize it.

In Italy, there is a right-wing prime minister Georgia MeloniShe, who attended Mr. Trump’s inauguration and sought to present herself as an interlocutor between the new US administration and Europe, tried to downplay the president’s proposal on Gaza.

“Trump is right when he says that the reconstruction of Gaza is clearly one of the main challenges we face, but to achieve success, a great deal of international community involvement is needed,” she told reporters during a visit to Saudi Arabia. Arabia. “On the refugee issue, I don’t think, here again, we are facing a specific plan (from Mr. Trump). I think we are facing instead discussions with regional actors, who certainly need to be involved in this.”

“These are certainly very complex issues, but the fact that they are being discussed, even at an informal level with actors in the region, in my opinion means that we want to work seriously on the issue of Gaza’s reconstruction.” said the Italian leader.

“I don’t know what he’s talking about,” says Senator Lindsey Graham.

Meanwhile, in the United States, even some Republicans loyal to Mr. Trump were left trying to understand his words.

“I really don’t know,” said Senator Lindsey Grahamwhen asked on CNN’s “State of the Union” program what the president meant by the “purge” statement. Graham, who is close to Trump, said the proposal was not possible.

“The idea of ​​all the Palestinians leaving and going somewhere else, I don’t see it as being too practical,” said Graham, a veteran Republican senator from South Carolina. He said Mr. Trump should continue to speak with Middle Eastern leaders, including Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and officials in the United Arab Emirates.

Graham said: “I don’t know what he’s talking about. But go and talk to Mohammed bin Salman, talk to the United Arab Emirates, talk to Egypt.” He asked, “What is their plan for the Palestinians? Do they want them all to leave?”

Trump abandons shipment of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel

Mr. Trump, a staunch supporter of Israel, also announced on Saturday that he had directed the United States to release a supply of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel. Former President Joe Biden It imposed control over specific weapons Because of concerns about them Its effects on the civilian population of Gaza.

Egypt and Jordan have made peace with Israel but support the establishment of a Palestinian state in the occupied West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, territories occupied by Israel in the 1967 Middle East War. They fear this will lead to the permanent displacement of Gaza’s population. Making the so-called “two-state solution” impossible.

Mr. Trump is also seen in the Middle East as less supportive of an eventual two-state solution than previous US administrations, and the current Israeli government has ruled out the creation of an independent Palestinian state.

In presenting such a massive population shift, Mr. Trump said Gaza “is literally a demolition site right now.”

He said about the displaced in Gaza: “I prefer to participate with some Arab countries and build housing in a different location.” “Where they can live in peace for change.”