Palestine, Jordan, Egypt Slam Trump’s Proposal to “Clean Out” Gaza

Gaza (Quds News Network)- Palestine, Egypt, and Jordan have strongly condemned US President Donald Trump’s proposal to “clean out” the war-torn Gaza Strip by displacing 1.5 million Palestinians to Arab countries.
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.”
Palestine
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.
It urged Trump to sustain the Gaza ceasefire agreement, ensure full withdrawal of Israeli forces, establish the PA as the governing body in the enclave, and advance efforts towards the creation of a sovereign Palestinian state.
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.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) called Trump’s comments an encouragement of “war crimes”.
“To ‘clean’ Gaza immediately after the war would in fact be a continuation of the war, through the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people,” said Hassan Jabareen, the director of Palestinian rights group Adalah.
Mustafa Barghouti, a senior Palestinian politician, said he “completely rejected” Trump’s comments, the Palestinian news agency Ma’an reported. Barghouti warned against attempts at “ethnic cleansing” in Gaza, saying: “The Palestinian people are committed to remaining in their homeland.”
Jordan
“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.
Jordan’s rejection of resettlement “is steadfast and essential for achieving the stability and peace we all seek,” Safadi said.
“The solution to the Palestinian issue lies in Palestine; Jordan is for Jordanians and Palestine is for Palestinians,” he added.
The top diplomat said that Jordan “looks forward to working with the US administration to achieve peace in the region.”
Egypt
In a statement, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry 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.”
It emphasized “its rejection of any infringement on these inalienable rights, whether through (Israeli) settlement expansion, land annexation, or the removal of Palestinians from their land through resettlement, encouragement of transfer, or uprooting, whether temporary or long-term.”
The statement considered such actions a “threat to stability, a warning of an expanded regional conflict, and a barrier to opportunities for peace and coexistence among the region’s peoples.”
Egypt urged “the international community to work toward the actual implementation of the two-state solution, including the establishment of a Palestinian state on its full national territory, in the context of the unity of Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in accordance with international legitimacy resolutions and the borders of June 4, 1967.”
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.