WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has appeared to soften his plan to take control of war-torn Gaza and relocate its more than two million Palestinian population to nearby countries, saying he was only recommending the idea.
Trump triggered shock earlier this month when he presented his plan to displace Palestinians from Gaza and suggested that the US would take over the territory after the war while pressuring Egypt and Jordan to accept displaced Palestinians.
But in an interview Friday, the Republican president conceded that the leaders of Jordan and Egypt had rejected the plan, calling the displacement of Palestinians against their will unjust.
“I was a little surprised they’d say that, but they did,” Trump told Fox News Radio’s “The Brian Kilmeade Show,” adding that the United States was paying those countries “billions of dollars a year” in aid.
“The way to do it is my plan. I think that’s a plan that really works, but I’m not forcing it,” Trump said. “I’m just gonna sit back and recommend it.”
Egypt and Jordan’s leaders have rejected both Trump’s plan and his previous requests to take in refugees from Gaza.
Trump’s comments came as Arab leaders met in Riyadh on Friday to craft a proposal for Gaza’s post-war reconstruction to counter Trump’s plan.
The Arab leaders meeting in Riyadh was meant to respond to a plan raised by Trump for the US to “take over” Gaza, permanently forcibly displace its residents and turn the Palestinian enclave into the “Riviera” of the Middle East.
Arab leaders have roundly rejected Trump’s proposal, saying it throws out decades of work towards Palestinian self-determination, treads on the rights of residents of Gaza and will perpetuate a regional cycle of violence.
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They hope to present an alternative plan with unified support at a March 4 Arab League meeting in Cairo, Egypt.
On February 10, Trump told Fox News that Palestinians had no right of return under the Gaza plan. “No, they wouldn’t, because they’re going to have much better housing,” he told Fox News. “I’m talking about building a permanent place for them.”
The UN warned that any forced displacement of civilians from occupied territory is strictly prohibited under international law and “tantamount to ethnic cleansing”.
Trump’s plan came weeks into a fragile ceasefire in Gaza, during which Hamas has released 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has launched a relentless bombardment campaign in Gaza killing more than 48,297 Palestinians, mostly women and children, the territory’s health ministry said.
Most of Gaza’s population has also been displaced multiple times, almost 70% of buildings are estimated to be damaged or destroyed, the healthcare, water, sanitation and hygiene systems have collapsed, and there are shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter.
Earlier, Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz also strongly criticised Trump’s plan, calling it a “scandal”.
“I say this with the Egyptian government, with the Jordanian government and with the people who can count on human dignity: the relocation of a population is unacceptable and against international law,” he said during a televised debate.
