KABUL (Pajhwok): Foreign ministers of some Arab countries have rejected US President Donald Trump’s call to relocate Palestinians to neighbouring countries from the Gaza Strip.
In a joint statement following a meeting in Cairo, foreign ministers and officials from Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, the Palestinian Authority and the Arab League warned such a move would threaten stability in the region, spread conflict and undermine prospects for peace, Reuters reported.
The nations “firmly rejected any actions threatening the rights, including settlement expansion, forced evictions, home demolitions, land annexation, or the displacement of Palestinians through direct expulsion or coerced migration..
Earlier, Trump described Gaza as a "devastated area" and urged Jordan and Egypt to provide shelter for Gaza's residents.
In January, Trump said he had spoken with the king of Jordan about potentially building housing elsewhere in the Middle East and moving more than a million Palestinians from Gaza to neighbouring countries.
“I said to him that I’d love you to take on more, because I’m looking at the whole Gaza Strip right now and it’s a mess, it’s a real mess,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One. “You’re talking about a million and a half people, and we just clean out that whole thing.”
More than 47,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since the beginning of the war in Gaza in October 7, 2023. Around 400 Israeli soldiers have also been killed during the period.
A ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement between Israel and Hamas was signed on January 15, facilitated by the United States, Egypt, and Qatar.
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