As a shaky ceasefire between Israel and Hamas to end the conflict permanently enters its second week, US President Donald Trump has proposed a plan to “just clean out” Gaza and stated that he wants Egypt and Jordan to remove Palestinians from the region, reports RTE.
In the second such exchange to date, four Israeli captives and some 200 Palestinian inmates were freed yesterday to cheering crowds as part of the peace agreement that went into force on January 19.
However, during 15 months of conflict, Mr. Trump referred to Gaza as a “demolition site” and claimed to have discussed the expulsion of Palestinians from the region with King Abdullah II of Jordan, reports RTE.
“I’d like Egypt to take people. And I’d like Jordan to take people,” Mr Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, adding that he expected to talk to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi today, reports RTE.
Palestinian refugees or their descendants make up the majority of Gaza’s population.
The wholesale relocation of Palestinians during Israel’s founding 75 years ago is known in the Arab world as the “Nakba” or disaster, and for Palestinians, any attempt to relocate them from Gaza would bring back painful memories of that event, reports RTE.
According to Mr. Sisi, Egypt has repeatedly warned that any “forced displacement” of Palestinians from Gaza into the Sinai desert may endanger the 1979 peace agreement Egypt signed with Israel.
According to the UN, there are now over 2.3 million officially recognised Palestinian refugees living in Jordan, reports RTE.
According to a top Hamas official, the violent Palestinian organisation would reject Mr. Trump’s proposal.
“As they have foiled every plan for displacement and alternative homelands over the decades, our people will also foil such projects,” said Bassem Naim, a member of Hamas political bureau, referring to Mr Trump’s comments, reports RTE.
The war in Gaza, which started after Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, has resulted in the displacement of the great majority of Gaza’s population, frequently on several occasions.
The incoming Trump administration has pledged “unwavering support” for Israel, but it hasn’t yet revealed its specific Middle East strategy, reports RTE.
He acknowledged that his predecessor, Joe Biden, had prevented him from ordering the Pentagon to unleash a shipment of 2,000-pound bombs for Israel.
A last-minute disagreement prevented hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians from returning to Gaza’s devastated north, even as Israel and the terrorist organisation Hamas conducted their second hostage-prisoner exchange under the truce agreement, reports RTE.
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