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US President Donald Trump on Thursday insisted that Egypt and Jordan would take Palestinians from Gaza – a plan Arab leaders have so far flatly rejected.
“They will do it. They are going to do it, OK?” Mr Trump told reporters in the Oval Office of the White House. “We do a lot for them and they are going to do it."
Mr Trump last week suggested that Egypt and Jordan should take in displaced Palestinians from Gaza so that “we clean out that whole thing”.
The latest comments came as a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, enacted about two weeks ago, appears to be holding. The deal, brokered by the US, Egypt and Qatar, ended 15 month of war that turned Gaza into what Mr Trump has called "a demolition site".
Relentless bombing by the Israeli military, in response to the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, that killed about 1,200 people, has turned much of the coastal enclave into rubble. About 47,400 Palestinians have been killed, health authorities in the enclave have said.
The suggestion that Egypt and Jordan take Palestinians has struck a nerve in the region. More than two million Palestinians live in Gaza, with the majority displaced and left with little access to housing, food and medical care.
But for Palestinians, plans to move them out of Gaza are reminiscent of the Nakba of 1948, when Palestinians were expelled en mass by Israeli forces.
Jordanian and Egyptians leaders have also categorically rejected the suggestion from Mr Trump. In a statement, Jordan's royal palace said 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". Jordan hosts about 2.3 million Palestinian refugees, according to the UN.
On Wednesday, Egypt's President Abdel Fattah El Sisi said Mr Trump's suggestion amounted to “an act of oppression”.
Mr Trump, who took office on January 20, does wield considerable influence over Jordan and Egypt, two important Washington allies that are also recipients US aid.