CNN
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President Donald Trump indicated on Saturday that he had spoken with the King of Jordan about building housing and moving more than 1 million Palestinians from Gaza to neighboring countries.
Trump said he asked King Abdullah II of Jordan, a key US partner in the region, in a phone call Saturday to bring in more Palestinians.
“I told him you want to do more because you’re looking at the whole Gaza Strip right now and it’s a mess, it’s a real mess,” he told Air Force reporters.
Jordan’s state news agency Petra reported the call with Trump but did not mention relocating the Palestinians. According to the United Nations, the kingdom is already home to more than 2.39 million registered Palestinian refugees.
Trump said he wants both Jordan and Egypt (which border the abused enclave) to house people and that he will speak to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi about the issue on Sunday. Ta.
“You’re talking about a million and a half people, so we’re just cleaning up all of that,” Trump said, adding that there has been conflict in the region for centuries. .
He continued: “I don’t know, something has to happen, but it’s literally a demolition site. Almost everything has been destroyed and people are dying there, so I’d rather get involved in some of the Arab countries. I want to build a house somewhere else where I think I can live peacefully for a change.”
The president, a former real estate developer, said potential housing could be “temporary” or “long-term.”
Amit Segal, an analyst with Israeli network Channel 12 News, quoted Israeli officials as saying the move was “not a slip of the tongue, but part of a much broader movement that appears to have been coordinated with Israel.” I reported that there is.
A source familiar with the matter confirmed the report to CNN, but no further details emerged. CNN has contacted the U.S. State Department for comment.
In addition to killing tens of thousands of people, the 15-month war between Israel and Hamas has reduced much of Gaza to rubble. According to the United Nations, Israeli airstrikes destroyed or destroyed about 60% of buildings, including schools and hospitals, and about 92% of homes.
According to the United Nations, around 90% of Gazan is displaced and many residents have been forced to move repeatedly, some more than 10 times.
Trump’s comments appear to break with decades of U.S. foreign policy, which has long emphasized a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine.
There has long been fear in the region that Israel wants to push Palestinians out of Gaza and into neighboring countries. Israel is rejected but supported by the far-right ions of its governing coalition.
El-Sisi criticized Israel’s move to evacuate more than 1 million residents from northern Gaza in October 2023, characterizing it as part of a larger plan to rid the entire area of Palestinians. .
“The displacement or expulsion of Palestinians from the (Gaza) Strip to Egypt means that a similar situation will also occur, which means that the expulsion of Palestinians from the West Bank to Jordan will occur” Palestine We talk about the state: “The land is there, but the people are not.”
At about the same time, King Abdullah called the idea of more Palestinian refugees moving to Jordan or Egypt a “red line.”
Bassem Naim, a senior Hamas official, said the Palestinians “will not accept any proposals or solutions” from Trump about leaving their homeland, even if it “appears to be intended under the guise of reconstruction.”
Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, an independent Palestinian politician, said he “completely rejected” Trump’s comments.
“What the profession has not been able to accomplish through criminal shelling and genocide in Gaza will not be done through political pressure,” Barghouti said in a statement, adding that “no plot of ethnic cleansing will succeed in Gaza or the West Bank.” I did.
There are approximately 5.9 million Palestinian refugees around the world, most of whom are descendants of those who fled the creation of Israel in 1948.
Upon taking office this week, Trump lifted Biden-era sanctions on Israeli settlers, a move welcomed by Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who argued vehemently for Israel to re-establish Jewish settlements. In a move that welcomed Bezalel Smotrich, Gaza was abandoned under Israeli orders in 2005.
Smotrich was quick to approve of Trump’s latest comments, saying, “The idea of helping (Ghazan) find somewhere else to start a new and better life is a great idea.”
Trump said earlier this week that he could play a role in rebuilding Gaza, praising it as having an “amazing location” and “perfect weather.”
The comments came in February 2024, when Kushner called Gaza’s waterfront property “invaluable” and suggested Israel “clean up” by expelling Palestinians from Gaza, his son-in-law Jared. -Reflected statements made by Kushner.
Trump also confirmed lifting a Biden-era hold on the provision of a 2,000-pound bomb for Israel.
“We released them today and they have them. They paid for them and they have been waiting for them for a long time,” he told reporters.
