Donald Trump, in a meeting with Jordanian King Abdullah yesterday, reiterated a plan for the United States to take control of Gaza and permanently relocate its residents, despite fierce opposition from Arab allies, including Jordan.
Shortly after the Jordanian king and his son arrived at the White House, reporters were ushered into the Oval Office, where the US president made it clear that he would not back down from a plan for the US to take over Gaza, resettle its war-traumatized residents, and transform the devastated territory.
“We’re going to take it. We’re going to hold it, we’re going to nurture it. We’re going to get things going, and over time there’s going to be a lot of jobs created there for people in the Middle East,” Trump said of Gaza, claiming his plan would “bring peace” to the region.
Trump also stated that he might consider withholding aid to Jordan if it refuses to accept resettled Palestinians.
King Abdullah has previously stressed that he rejects any attempts to annex territory and displace Palestinians.
Asked about accepting the Palestinians, Abdullah said yesterday that he must do what is best for his country and added that Arab countries would present their proposal to Washington. “The point is how to make this work in a way that is good for everyone,” Abdullah said, without explicitly expressing support or opposition to Trump’s plan.
Situated between Saudi Arabia, Syria, Israel and the occupied West Bank, Jordan already hosts 2 million Palestinian refugees, with their status and numbers long a source of concern for the Jordanian leadership.
According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted from February 7-9, three in four Americans - 74% - oppose the idea of the US taking control of Gaza and displacing its population. The poll found that Republicans were split on the issue, with 55% against and 43% in favor.
Trump's proposal further complicated already sensitive regional dynamics, including the fragile ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Hamas said on Monday it was suspending the release of Israeli hostages under the ceasefire agreement over alleged Israeli violations. Trump later proposed ending the ceasefire if Hamas did not release all remaining Israeli hostages it seized on October 7, 2023, by noon Saturday.
Trump said yesterday that "everything is down the drain" if Hamas fails to meet the deadline, adding that he does not believe the Palestinian militant group will do so.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday that if Hamas does not release Israeli hostages by noon Saturday, the fragile ceasefire in Gaza will be broken and the Israeli military will continue its offensive in the Palestinian enclave until the militant group is defeated.
“In light of Hamas’s announcement of violating the agreement and refusing to release our hostages, last night I ordered the IDF to mobilize forces in and around the Gaza Strip,” Netanyahu said, speaking after a meeting of Israel’s security cabinet. “This operation is currently underway. It will be completed in the very near future,” he added in a statement.
It was not immediately clear whether Netanyahu was referring to the return of the hostages who are due to be released on Saturday or to all those still trapped in the Palestinian enclave.
A Hamas official said yesterday that Israeli hostages can only return home if the ceasefire is respected, rejecting "threat language" after Trump said "all hell will break loose" if the hostages are not released.
"Trump must remember that there is an agreement that both sides must respect, and that is the only way for the (Israeli) prisoners to return. The language of threats has no value and only further complicates the situation," senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters.
Trump's Middle East Riviera plan angered Palestinians and Arab leaders and reversed decades of US policy, which supported the possibility of a two-state solution.
The forced displacement of a population under military occupation constitutes a war crime prohibited by the 1949 Geneva Conventions, the British agency reminds.
Palestinians fear a repeat of what they call the Nakba, or catastrophe, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were expelled during the 1948 war that followed the creation of Israel. Israel denies that the Palestinians were forcibly expelled.
Gaza residents interviewed by Reuters criticized Trump for saying he was ready to "let all hell break loose" if all Israeli hostages were not released by noon Saturday.
“Hell worse than what we have already experienced? Hell worse than the killing? The destruction, all these practices and crimes against humanity that have taken place in the Gaza Strip have not happened anywhere else in the world,” said Juma Abu Kosh, a Palestinian from Rafah in southern Gaza.
Shaban Shakaleh, whose house was destroyed in the Israeli offensive, intended to take his family on vacation to Egypt as soon as the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel was firmly established.
He changed his mind after Trump announced plans to relocate Palestinian residents of Gaza and rebuild the enclave, saying they would not have the right of return.
"We are horrified by the destruction, the renewed expulsions and the deaths, and I wanted to leave to provide a safe and better life for my children - until Trump said what he said," Shakaleh, 47, told Reuters.
"After Trump's statements, I changed my mind. I'm afraid I'll leave and never be able to return. This is my homeland. The thought of selling my home or part of the land I own to foreign companies and leaving my homeland forever is completely unacceptable. My roots are deep in the soil of my homeland and that's how it always will be," said Shakaleh.
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