US President Donald Trump has expressed a desire for Egypt and Jordan to accommodate Palestinians from Gaza, referring to the area as a “demolition site.”
During a phone conversation over the weekend, Mr. Trump stated that he had spoken with Jordan’s King Abdullah, saying: “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.” He indicated plans to discuss a similar proposal with Egypt’s president on Sunday.
He suggested that the relocation “could be temporary” or “could be long-term.”
Hamas has strongly opposed the idea, and the remarks are likely to provoke anger among Palestinians in Gaza, who consider the land their ancestral home.
“Our Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip endured death and destruction for 15 months… without leaving their land. Therefore, they will not accept any offers or solutions, even if they appear to be good intentions under the title of reconstruction, as announced by US President Trump’s proposals,” Bassem Naim, a Hamas political bureau member, told the BBC.
“Our people, just as they have thwarted all plans for displacement and an alternative homeland over the decades, will also thwart such projects,” he added.
The 15-month war with Israel has displaced most of Gaza’s two million residents, with much of its infrastructure destroyed.
Mr. Trump shared his thoughts while speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One.
“You’re talking about probably a million and a half people, and we just clean out that whole thing,” he remarked.
“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 maybe they can live in peace for a change.”
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Details of the proposal were not elaborated upon, and the White House’s official summary of the call did not include the topic.
Reacting to Mr. Trump’s comments, Abu Yahya Rashid, a displaced resident in Khan Younis, said: “We are the ones who decide our fate and what we want. This land is ours and the property of our ancestors throughout history. We will not leave it except as corpses.”
For decades, US foreign policy has advocated for the establishment of a Palestinian state, with Gaza playing a central role. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposes this idea.
The US has previously stated its opposition to the forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza or the occupied West Bank. Then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken emphasized last year: “They cannot, they must not, be pressed to leave Gaza.”
According to the United Nations, over two million Palestinian refugees reside in Jordan, most of whom have been granted citizenship. They are the descendants of approximately 750,000 Palestinians who fled or were displaced during the conflicts surrounding Israel’s formation.
Since the war with Israel began, thousands of Palestinians have fled to Egypt, although they are not officially recognized as refugees there.
In October 2023, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi rejected any forced relocation of Palestinians into the Sinai Peninsula, asserting that the only viable solution is the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
