Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Arab Nations Reject Trump's Suggestion to Relocate Palestinians From Gaza
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 4 months ago on
February 1, 2025

Arab nations strongly oppose Trump's suggestion to relocate Palestinians, emphasizing the need for a two-state solution. (AP/Khaled Elfiqi)

Share

CAIRO — Powerful Arab nations on Saturday rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s suggestion to relocate Palestinians from Gaza to neighboring Egypt and Jordan.

Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, the Palestinian Authority and the Arab League released a joint statement rejecting any plans to move Palestinians out of their territories in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

Trump floated the idea last month, saying he would urge the leaders of Jordan and Egypt to take in Gaza’s now largely homeless population, so that “we just clean out that whole thing.” He added that resettling most of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million could be temporary or long term. Some Israel officials had raised the transfer idea early in the war.

“It’s literally a demolition site right now,” Trump said, referring to the vast destruction caused by Israel’s 15-month war with Hamas, now paused by a fragile ceasefire.

Arab Nations Warn of Regional Instability

The Arab statement warned that such plans “threaten the region’s stability, risk expanding the conflict, and undermine prospects for peace and coexistence among its peoples.”

The statement followed a meeting in Cairo of top diplomats from Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, as well as Hussein al-Sheikh, a senior Palestinian official who serves as the main liaison with Israel, and Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul Gheit.

They said they were looking forward to working with the Trump administration to “achieve a just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East, based on the two-state solution,” according to the statement.

They called for the international community to help “plan and implement” a comprehensive reconstruction plan for Gaza to ensure that Palestinians stay on their land.

Egypt and Jordan Oppose Relocation

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi rejected Trump’s suggestion in a news conference last week, saying that he transfer of Palestinians “can’t ever be tolerated or allowed.”

“The solution to this issue is the two-state solution. It is the establishment of a Palestinian state,” he said. “The solution is not to remove the Palestinian people from their place. No.”

Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi also said that his country’s opposition to Trump’s idea was “firm and unwavering.”

El-Sissi’s office said the Egyptian leader received a phone call from Trump on Saturday. The Egyptian readout described the call as “positive,” but didn’t mention Trump’s suggestion.

El-Sissi emphasized the importance of achieving a “permanent peace” in the region, adding that the international community “counts on President Trump’s ability to reach a permanent and historic peace agreement” in the Middle East, according to the Egyptian statement.

Concerns Over Refugee Influx and Security

Egypt and Jordan, along with the Palestinians, worry that Israel would never allow them to return to Gaza once they have left. Egypt and Jordan also fear the impact any such influx of refugees would have on their struggling economies as well as the stability of their governments.

Jordan already is home to more than 2 million Palestinians. Egypt has warned of security implications of transferring large numbers of Palestinians to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, bordering Gaza.

Both countries were the first to make peace with Israel but they support the creation of a Palestinian state in the occupied West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, territories that Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast War.

The Arab nations also emphasized the role of the main United Nations aid agency for Palestinian refugees as “pivotal, non-replaceable” in providing support to Palestinian refugees. They “vehemently reject any attempts to bypass or downside its role,” according to the statement.

Israel on Thursday formally banned UNRWA after months of attacks from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his far-right allies who claim the agency is deeply infiltrated by Hamas. UNRWA rejects that claim.

UNRWA provides aid and services to some 2.5 million Palestinian refugees in Gaza and the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, as well as 3 million more in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. It has been the main lifeline for Palestinians in Gaza since the Israel-Hamas war began in October 2023.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

UP NEXT

Israeli Military Kills 41 People in Gaza, Medics Say

Israel and Iran Bombard Each Other, Trump Says He Can ‘Easily’ End Conflict

22 hours ago

Trump Vetoed an Israeli Plan to Kill Iran’s Supreme Leader, US Officials Say

22 hours ago

Fresno Man Arrested in Fatal DUI Crash on Trimmer Springs Road

A man is dead and three others are injured following a rollover crash Saturday evening on Trimmer Springs Road that investigators say was ca...

20 hours ago

20 hours ago

Fresno Man Arrested in Fatal DUI Crash on Trimmer Springs Road

Mourners pray during the funeral of a Palestinian killed in what the Gaza health ministry says was Israeli fire near a distribution center in Rafah, at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, June 15, 2025. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled
20 hours ago

Israeli Military Kills 41 People in Gaza, Medics Say

Bullet holes mark the front door of Minnesota state Senator John Hoffman, who was shot alongside his wife, Yvette, in what is believed to be an attack by 57-year-old suspect Vance Luther Boelter, who is also the lead suspect in the shooting deaths of senior Democratic state assemblywoman Melissa Hortman and her husband, Marc, in Champlin, Minnesota, U.S., June 14, 2025. REUTERS/Tim Evans
21 hours ago

Manhunt for Gunman Who Shot Two Minnesota Lawmakers Enters Second Day

Israelis take shelter at the side of a highway as siren sounds following missile attack from Iran on Israel, in central Israel June 15, 2025. REUTERS/Oren Ben Hakoon
22 hours ago

Israel and Iran Bombard Each Other, Trump Says He Can ‘Easily’ End Conflict

President Donald Trump speaks as he attends a military parade to commemorate the U.S. Army's 250th Birthday, on the day of his 79th birthday, in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 14, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo
22 hours ago

Trump Vetoed an Israeli Plan to Kill Iran’s Supreme Leader, US Officials Say

23 hours ago

Newsom Wanted To Fast-Track the Delta Tunnel Project. The Legislature Slowed the Flow

1 day ago

Five Weeknight Dishes: Seven Ingredients or Fewer, Because Summer

1 day ago

Big Fresno Fair Unveils Second Wave of 2025 Concert Acts

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend