The foreign ministers of the Arab League on Sunday strongly opposed US President Donald Trump’s suggestion to relocate Palestinians from Gaza to Egypt and Jordan, saying that would destabilize the region and undermine peace efforts.
Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, the Palestinian Authority, and the Arab League are said to be in agreement according to a statement released on Saturday after a session in Cairo, as they spoke out against an attempt to throw Palestinians off the land. It resolute that in this it strongly underlined preserving Palestinians’ rights and condemned such attempts to deprive them of their claims for the land-a clear violation of international law, according to Palestinian sources.
The meeting was summoned after the bitter proposal by Trump last week when he said Egypt and Jordan must take in 2.3 million residents of Gaza due to the devastating impact of Israeli airstrikes. Critics denounced the idea immediately as ethnic cleansing, while Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi shot it down by saying that Egypt would not support the relocation of Palestinians.
Such a plan by Trump comes at a time when Gaza is still reeling from the effects of months of bombardment that largely left much of the region in ruins. Palestinians, especially in Gaza, have always opposed this concept of leaving their land for resettlement elsewhere, and this position has been one Arab nations have steadfastly supported. Rejection of Trump’s plan further underlines deep-rooted opposition in the Arab world to any form of Palestinian displacement.
The Arab ministers also accepted full support for the initiative introduced by Egypt for organizing an international conference with the United Nations on Gaza rebuilding. No date has been set for the conference as of now.
