US President Trump on Friday appeared to walk back his proposal to relocate approximately two million Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to neighbouring Middle Eastern countries, to allow the United States to develop the territory into a “Riviera of the Middle East”.
Earlier in February, Trump stated that he favoured taking control of Gaza and displacing its Palestinian population. He repeatedly dismissed objections to the idea, including rejections from the leaders of Egypt and Jordan.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi said several days after Trump initially suggested his plan: “In Egypt, we have warned since the beginning of the crisis that what was happening was an attempt to render the Gaza Strip uninhabitable, paving the way for the displacement of the Palestinians. I state it unequivocally: The displacement of the Palestinian people from their place is an injustice. We cannot condone or be a part of the unjust displacement of Palestinians.”
Trump had said he could persuade the leaders of Egypt and Jordan, and potentially others in the region, to accept the Palestinians. “They say they’re not going to accept,” Trump said. “I say they will.”
However, in a telephone interview on Friday with Fox News host Brian Kilmeade, Trump seemed to concede that his efforts at persuasion had failed. He acknowledged that the refusal by Egypt and Jordan to accept displaced Gazans would make the idea unworkable.
“We pay Jordan and Egypt billions of dollars every year. And I was a little surprised they’d say that, but they did,” Trump said before adding: “I’ll tell you, the way to do it is my plan. I think that’s the plan that really works. But I’m not forcing it. I’m just going to sit back and recommend it.”
Arab leaders met in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Friday to formulate a response to Trump’s proposal.
The meeting – which included representatives from Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other Gulf Arab nations – took place ahead of a larger Arab summit on March 4, according to Saudi Arabia. The Egyptian foreign ministry said a meeting of Islamic countries is expected to follow.
Egypt initially announced the gathering in early February as an “emergency summit”. The meeting, taking place five weeks after Trump first floated his proposal, highlights the challenges Arab states face in establishing a unified position.
With Arab support, Egypt is developing a plan to rebuild Gaza without displacing its Palestinian population. The plan involves establishing “secure areas” within Gaza where Palestinians can live while Egyptian and international construction firms remove and rehabilitate the strip’s infrastructure.
