Controversy on the rise over Trump’s proposal to transfer the Palestinians in Gaza to Egypt and Jordan

The controversy is on the rise over US President Donald Trump’s proposal to transfer the Palestinians in Gaza to Egypt and Jordan as hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the war between Israel and Hamas returned to their destroyed neighborhoods.

Earlier this month, a fragile ceasefire agreement went into effect to release hostages held in Gaza in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

The agreement aims to put an end to the war that was sparked by an unprecedented attack launched by Hamas on Israel on October 7, 2023.

After the ceasefire went into effect, Trump floated a plan to cleanse the Gaza Strip, and he reiterated the idea on Monday by suggesting that Palestinians be moved to safer areas such as Egypt and Jordan.

Trump, who has repeatedly claimed credit for brokering a truce after months of stalled negotiations, will host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington next Tuesday, his office said.

On Tuesday, Jordan reiterated its rejection of Trump’s proposal.

Minister of State for Government Communication and official government spokesman Mohammad Momani said in a press conference, “We affirm that Jordanian national security dictates the inevitability of the Palestinians’ steadfastness and their remaining on their land and dictates the necessity that there be no form of displacement of the Palestinian people”.

As for Qatar, it indicated that it doesn’t agree on many issues with all of its allies, not just the United States.

“Our position has always been clear on the need for the Palestinian people to obtain their rights, and that the two-state solution is the only way forward,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al Ansari said at a press conference when asked about Trump’s remarks.

Egypt denied reports that Trump held talks with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el Sisi over the weekend.

Trump reportedly told the Egyptian president on Monday, “I hope he takes some of them,” referring to the Palestinians.

The State Information Service said, “A high-ranking official source denied what was reported by the media about a phone call between the Egyptian and US presidents”.

It added that any phone call the Egyptian president makes with heads of state is announced according to custom.

Egypt affirmed its rejection of any forced displacement of Palestinians in Gaza, stressing “Egypt’s continued support for the steadfastness of the Palestinian people on their land and their adherence to their legitimate rights in their land and homeland”.

On Tuesday, the French Foreign Ministry considered the forced displacement unacceptable.

The Foreign Ministry spokesman said in a statement that any forced displacement of residents from Gaza would be unacceptable, noting that this isn’t only a serious violation of international law, but also a major undermining of the two-state solution and a destabilizing factor for our close partners, Egypt and Jordan.

In turn, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Tuesday, “In light of the recent statements, I say very clearly that any resettlement plans – the idea of ​​expelling the people of Gaza to Egypt or Jordan – are unacceptable”.

Trump indicated on Saturday that the transfer of Gaza residents to Egypt and Jordan could be temporary or long-term.

Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said he was working with the prime minister to prepare a plan to ensure the realization of the US president’s vision, without further details.

It’s worth noting that Smotrich opposed the recent ceasefire agreement reached between Israel and Hamas.

Palestinians see any attempt to forcibly remove them from Gaza as akin to the Nakba, when Palestinians were displaced from their land when the state of Israel was established.

Almost all of Gaza’s population was displaced more than once as a result of the war, which destroyed most of the territory of the Strip.

Since Monday, more than 376,000 displaced people have returned to northern Gaza, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which explained that half of these displaced people are men, a quarter are women and the last quarter are children.

The current ceasefire is scheduled to last six weeks, allowing for the release of a total of 33 Israeli hostages in Gaza in exchange for about 1,900 Palestinian prisoners.

Israeli government spokesman David Mincer announced Monday that eight of the hostages who would be handed over in the first phase of the deal had been killed.

But the brother of an Israeli hostage who is believed to have been killed said Tuesday he would rather release a live hostage than receive his brother’s body.

Since the start of the truce, Hamas has handed over seven Israeli women, including four female soldiers, while Israel has released 290 Palestinian prisoners.

In New York, Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon confirmed that Israel will cut off all contacts with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and anybody acting on its behalf, after the Hebrew state accused the UN agency of employing people linked to Hamas.

Danon said, “The law prevents UNRWA from operating within the sovereign territory of the State of Israel, and also prohibits any contact between Israeli officials and UNRWA”.

Washington quickly backed Israel’s decision, stating that “it’s a sovereign decision by Israel to close UNRWA’s offices in Jerusalem on January 30… The United States supports this decision,” said Dorothy Shay, the acting US ambassador to the United Nations.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged Israel to reverse its decision.

“I regret this decision and ask the government of Israel to reverse it,” Guterres wrote in a letter dated Monday. Guterres stressed in his letter that the agency is irreplaceable, rejecting Israel’s claims to sovereignty over East Jerusalem, where UNRWA has an office.

For his part, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini considered that the continued Israeli attack on the agency harms the Palestinians and undermines their confidence in the international community, and jeopardizes any possibility of peace and security.

The October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on southern Israel killed 1,210 people, most of them civilians, according to official Israeli data.

On the other side, at least 47,317 people, most of them civilians, women and children, were killed, since the October, 2023.