Trump says Egypt and Jordan will take in Palestinians from Gaza

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US President Donald Trump insisted on January 30th that Egypt and Jordan would accept Palestinians from Gaza, despite Arab leaders firmly rejecting the idea, The National reported.

“They will do it. They are going to do it, OK?” Trump told reporters in the White House’s Oval Office. “We do a lot for them and they are going to do it.”

Last week, Mr Trump proposed that displaced Palestinians from Gaza should be taken in by Egypt and Jordan in order to “clean out that whole thing.”

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These latest remarks follow a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, which was brokered by the US, Egypt, and Qatar. The agreement ended 15 months of war that left Gaza in ruins, which Trump has described as “a demolition site.”

Israel’s sustained bombardment of Gaza followed the Hamas attack on October 7th 2023, which killed approximately 1,200 people. The coastal enclave has been largely reduced to rubble, with around 47,400 Palestinians killed, according to health authorities in Gaza.

The proposition that Egypt and Jordan take in Palestinians has been met with strong opposition in the region. Gaza is home to over two million Palestinians, most of whom are displaced and have little access to housing, food, and medical care.

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Palestinians also reject Trump’s suggestion, as any plan to relocate them from Gaza evokes memories of the 1948 Nakba, when large numbers of Palestinians were displaced, leading to Israel’s creation in 1948.

Jordan and Egypt have also explicitly rejected Trump’s proposal. 

Jordan’s royal palace stressed that the country has a “firm position on the need to keep the Palestinians on their land and to guarantee their legitimate rights, in accordance with the Israeli and Palestinian two-state solution.” 

The UN estimates that Jordan currently hosts around 2.3 million Palestinian refugees.

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On January 29th Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi denounced Trump’s suggestion, calling it “an act of oppression.”

Trump, who assumed office on January 20th, holds significant influence over Jordan and Egypt, both key US allies that also receive American aid.

The National

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