President Donald Trump indicated Saturday that he had spoken with the king of Jordan about potentially building housing and moving more than 1 million Palestinians from Gaza to neighboring countries, a remarkable proposal from a sitting US president that would appear to break with decades of US foreign policy.
Trump said he asked Jordan’s Abdullah II, a key US partner in the region, to take in more Palestinians in a Saturday phone call. He said he’d also like to speak with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi about whether Egypt could build more homes for Palestinians, saying “I’d rather get involved with some of the Arab nations and build housing in a different location where I think they could maybe live in peace for a change.”
Jordan’s state news agency Petra reported the call with Trump, but made no mention of relocating Palestinians.
There has long been a fear in the region that Israel wants to push Palestinians out of Gaza into neighboring countries — a premise Israel rejects, but one supported by far-right factions of its governing coalition.
Here’s how some in the region are responding to Trump’s suggestion:
• Amit Segal, an analyst with Israeli network Channel 12 News, cited Israeli officials and reported that the move was “not a slip of the tongue but part of a much broader move than it seems, coordinated with Israel.” CNN has reached out to the US State Department for comment.
• Bassem Naim, a senior Hamas official, said Palestinians “will not accept any proposals or solutions” from Trump on leaving their homeland, even if they are “seemingly well-intentioned under the guise of reconstruction.”
• Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, an independent Palestinian politician, said he “completely rejected” Trump’s comments.
• Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich — who has long advocated removing Palestinians from the strip and instituting Israeli rule — was quick to endorse Trump’s latest comments, saying “the idea of helping (Gazans) find other places to start new, better lives is a great idea.”
Key powers in the region including Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan have not yet responded to Trump’s most recent proposal.
Egypt’s El-Sisi previously criticized Israel’s move to force the evacuation of more than a million residents from northern Gaza in October 2023, characterizing it as part of a larger plan to rid the entire area of Palestinians. Jordan’s King Abdullah also previously called the idea of more Palestinian refugees moving to Jordan or Egypt a “red line.”
