DORAL, Florida, USA (AP) — President Donald Trump’s proposal for Egypt and Jordan to receive a large number of Palestinian refugees from the Gaza Strip was met with strong rejection in those countries and left a key legislative ally in Washington perplexed.
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The clashes that erupted in the territory after Hamas broke into southern Israel in October 2023 are currently suspended under a fragile ceasefire, but much of the population of Gaza has been left virtually homeless as a result of the relentless Israeli military campaign.
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Trump told journalists aboard the presidential plane on Saturday that moving around 1.5 million Palestinians from Gaza could mean that "we just clean all that up."
What is Trump's plan for Gaza?
Trump revealed what he told King Abdullah of Jordan during a phone conversation the previous Saturday: "I told him, 'I would love for you to take in more, because right now I see Gaza Strip, and it's a disaster'."
He indicated that he made a similar call to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on Sunday during a phone conversation at his Doral, Florida complex. Trump revealed that he would like "Egypt to host people and I would like Jordan to host people."
Egypt and Jordan, like the Palestinians, fear that Israel will never allow them to return to Gaza once they leave the territory. Both Egypt and Jordan also have economies with perpetual problems, and their governments, like those of many other Arab states, fear that a huge destabilization will occur within their own countries and throughout the region with any influx of refugees of such magnitude.
Jordan already hosts more than 2 million Palestinian refugees. Egypt has warned about the security implications of transferring a large number of Palestinians to the Sinai Peninsula, bordering Gaza.
Trump hinted that resettling the majority of Gaza's 2.3 million inhabitants could be a temporary or long-term solution.
What was Jordan and Egypt's response to Trump's plan?
Jordan's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ayman Safadi, stated on Sunday that his country's opposition to Trump's proposal was "firm and unbreakable." Some Israeli officials had raised the idea at the beginning of the war.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt issued a statement indicating that any temporary or long-term transfer of Palestinians "carries the risk of expanding the conflict in the region."
Trump can exert some pressure on Jordan, a strategically important ally but mired in significant debt, which largely depends on foreign aid. Historically, the United States is the country's main provider of assistance, including over 1.6 billion dollars through the State Department in 2023.
Much of this funding is in the form of support for Jordan's security forces and direct assistance to the budget.
In return, Jordan has been a vital regional partner for the United States in its efforts to maintain stability in the region. Around 3,000 American soldiers are stationed in Jordan. However, the new Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, exempted security assistance for Israel and Egypt, but not for Jordan, when he revealed the details of a freeze on foreign assistance that Trump ordered on his first day in office.
In the United States, meanwhile, even Trump supporters tried to find logic in the president's words.
After being asked about what Trump meant by "cleaning" Gaza, Senator Lindsey Graham said on CNN's "State of the Union" program: "I really don't know." Graham, who is close to Trump, indicated that his proposal was not feasible.
"The idea of all Palestinians going somewhere else, I don't see that as very practical," said Graham. He added that Trump should keep communication with governments in the Middle East, including the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, and officials from the United Arab Emirates.
At the same time, the office of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas strongly condemned Donald Trump's suggestion to "cleanse" the Gaza Strip.
In a statement, the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited control over parts of the West Bank occupied by Israel, expressed that the prospect of a massive displacement from the Gaza Strip “constitutes a violation of the red lines that we have repeatedly warned about”.