Trump Urges Egypt and Jordan to Accept Gazan Refugees, But Resistance Looms 

U.S. President Donald Trump has called on Egypt and Jordan to take in Palestinians from Gaza, but both countries are expected to resist due to political and security concerns.

President Donald Trump proposed that Egypt and Jordan should accept Palestinians from the war-torn Gaza Strip, but this idea is expected to face strong opposition from both U.S. allies as well as the Palestinians themselves, who worry that Israel would prevent their return.

On Saturday, Trump suggested encouraging the leaders of two Arab countries to accommodate Gaza’s largely displaced population. He mentioned this would help “clear out that whole area.” Additionally, he noted that relocating Gaza’s residents could be either a short-term or long-term solution.

“It’s essentially a demolition site at the moment,” Trump remarked, alluding to the extensive destruction resulting from Israel’s 15-month military campaign against Hamas, which is currently halted by a tenuous ceasefire.

Trump expressed his preference for engaging with some Arab nations to develop housing in a different location, where they might be able to live peacefully.

Officials from Egypt, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine did not provide an immediate comment.

This concept is likely to be embraced by Israel, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners have long promoted what they term the voluntary relocation of a substantial number of Palestinians and the reestablishment of Jewish settlements in Gaza.

Human rights organizations have accused Israel of engaging in ethnic cleansing, a term defined by United Nations experts as a strategy implemented by one ethnic or religious group to forcibly displace the civilian population of another group from specific areas through violent and terror-inducing methods.

Before and during the 1948 war that accompanied Israel’s establishment, approximately 700,000 Palestinians—representing a majority of the prewar population—were displaced or forced to leave their homes in what is now known as Israel. This event is remembered by Palestinians as the Nakba, which means “catastrophe” in Arabic.

Israel declined to permit their return, as it would lead to a Palestinian majority within its borders. The refugees and their descendants now total approximately 6 million, with significant communities residing in Gaza—where they comprise the majority of the population—as well as in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.

During the 1967 Mideast war, when Israel took control of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, an additional 300,000 Palestinians fled their homes, with most seeking refuge in Jordan.

The longstanding refugee crisis has significantly fueled the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and was a major point of contention in peace negotiations, which last collapsed in 2009. While Palestinians assert their right to return, Israel argues that they should be integrated into neighboring Arab nations.

Many Palestinians perceive the recent conflict in Gaza, where whole neighborhoods have been decimated and 90% of the area’s 2.3 million residents displaced from their homes, as a new Nakba. They worry that if significant numbers of Palestinians leave Gaza, they might also face permanent displacement.