“Ethnic Cleansing”: US Senator Slams Trump’s Call to “Clean Out” Gaza

Washington (Quds News Network)- US Senator Bernie Sanders condemned President Donald Trump’s call to “clean out” the war-torn Gaza Strip by displacing 1.5 million Palestinians to neighboring countries, calling it “ethnic cleansing” and a “war crime”.
Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont and a leading progressive voice in American politics, was the lone senator to condemn the remarks and called on others to censure Trump for making the suggestion.
“Trump said he wants to “clean out” Gaza and push the millions of Palestinians living there into neighboring countries,” Sanders said in a statement on X.
“There is a name for this – ethnic cleansing – and it’s a war crime,” Sanders, who has been a leading voice in the Senate, calling on the US to restrict weapons shipments to Israel over human rights violations in Gaza, added.
Trump said he wants to “clean out” Gaza and push the millions of Palestinians living there into neighboring countries.
There is a name for this — ethnic cleansing — and it’s a war crime.
This outrageous idea should be condemned by every American.https://t.co/hO2B7WC3Yf
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) January 27, 2025
On Saturday, Trump said during a 20-minute question-and-answer session with reporters aboard the Air Force that he would like Jordan, Egypt, and other Arab nations to increase the number of Palestinian refugees they accept from Gaza.
On his larger vision for Gaza, Trump said he had called earlier in the day with King Abdullah II of Jordan and would speak Sunday with President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi of Egypt.
“I’d like Egypt to take people,” Trump said. “You’re talking about probably a million and a half people, and we just clean out that whole thing and say, ‘You know, it’s over.’”
Trump said he complimented Jordan for having successfully accepted Palestinian refugees and that he told the king, “I’d love for you to take on more, cause I’m looking at the whole Gaza Strip right now, and it’s a mess. It’s a real mess.”
Trump added the part of the world that encompasses Gaza, has “had many, many conflicts” over centuries. He said resettling “could be temporary or long term.”
“Something has to happen,” Trump said. “But it’s literally a demolition site right now. Almost everything’s demolished, and people are dying there.”
He added: “So, I’d rather get involved with some of the Arab nations, and build housing in a different location, where they can maybe live in peace for a change.”
On Monday, Trump doubled down on his proposal, insisting that Egypt and Jordan would agree to it.
Asked about his comments, Trump told reporters on Air Force One Monday evening he would “like to get them living in an area where they can live without disruption and revolution and violence so much.”
“When you look at the Gaza Strip, it’s been hell for so many years,” Trump said. “There have been various civilizations on that strip. It didn’t start here. It started thousands of years before, and there’s always been violence associated with it. You could get people living in areas that are a lot safer and maybe a lot better and maybe a lot more comfortable.”
Asked how the Egyptian leader received the idea, Trump said Sissi’s “response [was] that he’d like to see peace in the Middle East.”
“I’d like to see peace in the Middle East,” Trump added.
Pressed further, Trump insisted that both the Egyptian and Jordanian leaders would come around.
“I’d love to do that,” he said. “I wish [Sissi] would take some. We helped them a lot, and I’m sure he’d help us. He’s a friend of mine. He’s in… a rough neighborhood. But I think he would do it, and I think the king of Jordan would do it too,” Trump added.
However, Egyptian state-linked media quickly reported on Tuesday that such a call never happened, citing a senior government source, after Israeli media, including the Jerusalem Post and Ynet, reported that the two presidents spoke by phone and that Sissi did not object to the idea.
Palestine, Egypt, and Jordan all strongly condemned Trump’s remarks.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) said the plan “constitutes a blatant violation of the red lines we have consistently warned against”. “We emphasise that the Palestinian people will never abandon their land or their holy sites, and we will not allow the repetition of the catastrophes (Nakba) of 1948 and 1967. Our people will remain steadfast and will not leave their homeland,” it said.
Hamas said the US administration must abandon such proposals that align with Israeli “schemes” and conflict with the rights of the Palestinian people, who have already been resisting “the most heinous acts of genocide” and displacement since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October 2023.
“Our principles are clear, and Jordan’s steadfast position to uphold the Palestinians’ presence on their land remains unchanged and will never change,” Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told a joint press conference in Amman.
“The solution to the Palestinian issue lies in Palestine; Jordan is for Jordanians and Palestine is for Palestinians,” he added.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry also affirmed “Egypt’s continued support for the resilience of the Palestinian people on their land and their commitment to their legitimate rights in their homeland, in accordance with international law and international humanitarian law.”
Egypt “cannot be part of any solution involving the transfer of Palestinians into the Sinai,” the Egyptian Embassy in Washington said, citing an opinion piece published by Ambassador Motaz Zahran on the US website The Hill in October 2023.