Trump suggests ‘cleaning out’ Gaza

The neighboring Arab nations should accommodate refugees from the Palestinian enclave, the US president said

US President Donald Trump has suggested that neighboring Arab countries should take in Palestinian refugees and “clean out” the embattled Gaza Strip.

Speaking to journalists aboard Air Force One on Saturday, Trump said that he spoke to King Abdullah II of Jordan over the war and was planning to speak with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on Sunday.

“I’d like Egypt to take people, and I’d like Jordan to take people,” Trump said. “You’re talking about probably a million and a half people, we just clean out that whole thing. It’s a real mess.”

“It’s literally a demolition site right now. Almost everything’s demolished, and people are dying there,” he added. “So, I’d rather get involved with some of the Arab nations, and build housing in a different location, where they can maybe live in peace for a change,” Trump told reporters.

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Both Egypt and Jordan have rejected the idea of displacing Palestinians from Gaza. Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi affirmed on Sunday that the kingdom’s position against displacing Palestinians remains “irreversible and unchanged.” On Sunday, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry also stressed its commitment to defending the rights of Palestinians and the opposition to uprooting Gaza’s population.

Around 1.9 million people – more than 90% of Gaza’s population – have been displaced since the war between Israel and Hamas broke out in October 2023, according to the UN.

Although the sides agreed to a ceasefire on January 15, Israel has since accused Hamas of violating a prisoner swap arrangement and halted the return of Gazans to their home in the northern part of the enclave. Both sides have also accused each other of ceasefire violations.

On Saturday, Hamas handed over four female Israeli soldiers in exchange for the release of 200 Palestinian prisoners. The Israeli government has said that Hamas had initially promised to release a different hostage.

Hamas took around 250 hostages and killed some 1,200 people during its surprise attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. More than 47,00 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, according to the local authorities.