Five Arab foreign ministers and a senior Palestinian official have sent a joint letter to US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, opposing plans to displace Palestinians from Gaza, as suggested by President Donald Trump in January.
The letter was sent on Monday and signed by the foreign ministers of Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE, as well as Palestinian presidential adviser Hussein al-Sheikh. It was reported first by Axios, which said the top diplomats met in Cairo at the weekend.
Trump first floated the suggestion of Jordan and Egypt taking in Palestinians from Gaza on January 25. When asked if he was suggesting that as a long-term or short-term solution, the president said: “Could be either.”
Trump’s comments echoed longstanding Palestinian fears of being permanently driven from their homes and were labeled as a proposal for ethnic cleansing by critics. Jordan, Egypt, and other Arab nations opposed the proposal.
“Reconstruction in Gaza should be through direct engagement with and participation of the people of Gaza. Palestinians will live in their land and help rebuild it,” the letter said. “They should not be stripped of their agency during reconstruction as they must take ownership of the process with the support of the international community.”
Israel’s military assault on Gaza has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry, and led to accusations of genocide and war crimes that Israel denies. The fighting has paused amid a fragile ceasefire.
The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on October 7 2023 when Palestinian Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Reuters
