Palestinians have strongly criticized US President Donald Trump’s proposal to expel Palestinians from Gaza and send them to Egypt and Jordan. The proposal raised concerns about ethnic cleansing.
President Trump told reporters on Saturday that it was time to “clean up” the besieged Gaza Strip and called on the leaders of Jordan and Egypt to accept Palestinians there, either temporarily or permanently.
The proposal was rejected by the Palestinians on Sunday, with the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority (PA) saying it would violate “red lines” and insisting Gaza residents would remain in their coastal enclaves.
Nafiz Halawa, a Palestinian citizen, told Al Jazeera from Nuseirat in central Gaza. “It is impossible for people to accept this. “The weak may leave because of the pain they have experienced, but the thought of us leaving our country… “It is absolutely impossible.”
Elham al-Shabli also rejected the idea. “If we wanted to leave, we would have done so a long time ago. “The genocidal war they are waging will achieve nothing for the Palestinians and no matter what happens, we will remain,” she said.
The PA said in a statement that the plan was a “blatant violation of the red line we have consistently warned against.”
“We emphasize that the Palestinian people will never abandon their land and sacred sites and will not allow the catastrophes of 1948 and 1967 (Nakba) to be repeated. “Our people will remain strong and will not leave their homeland,” he said. .
The report urges President Trump to maintain the Gaza ceasefire, ensure the full withdrawal of Israeli forces, establish the PA as the governing body in the territory, and advance efforts to create a sovereign Palestinian state.
Hamas, the Palestinian group that rules the Gaza Strip, said the U.S. administration should abandon such proposals as they align with Israel’s “plot” and conflict with the rights of the Palestinian people, who have already resisted “the most heinous acts of genocide” and displacement. said. Israel began war in the Gaza Strip in October 2023.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), which has been fighting alongside Hamas in the Gaza Strip for more than 15 months, condemned Trump’s remarks as encouraging “war crimes.”
Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said Jordan’s “rejection of displaced persons is firm and unchanging” and that Amman looked forward to working with the Trump administration to advance efforts to recognize a sovereign Palestinian state.
President Trump’s remarks appeared to capture the fact that Republican Senator Lindsey Graham also said in an interview with CNN that he did not think the idea was “too practical” and that Arab countries in the region would reject it.
Israel blocks return to northern Gaza Strip
President Trump’s remarks came just a week after the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip went into effect and two prisoner-for-prisoner exchanges were completed.
But thousands of Palestinians waited outside barricades on Sunday to return to their homes in northern Gaza after Israel refused to open crossing points after accusing Hamas of violating a cease-fire agreement.
Israel said it would open the crossing following the release of Arbel Yehud, an Israeli civilian prisoner held by PIJ in the Gaza Strip. The armistice agreement states that civilian prisoners must be released before soldiers.
PIJ told Al Jazeera on Sunday that Yehud would be released before Saturday and exchanged for 30 Palestinian prisoners.
PIJ Deputy Secretary-General Mohammed al-Hindi also said he was “awaiting a substantive answer” from mediators on how Palestinians could return to their homes north of Gaza.
Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from the intersection of Al-Rashid Street in Gaza, said there were “no tents” to provide shelter for the displaced.
“There is no place for them here. There are no tents. “Most people are staying here because they dismantled their tents because they thought the four Israeli prisoners would be able to cross to the northern part of the Strip as agreed upon after their release,” he said.
“But I guess I’ll have to sleep here tonight too.”
