Washington (TDI): Five Arab foreign ministers and a senior Palestinian official sent a joint letter to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio dismissing plans to displace Palestinians from Gaza, as suggested by President Donald Trump in late January.
The letter was sent on Monday and signed by the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Egypt, and the UAE, as well as Palestinian presidential adviser Hussein al-Sheikh, according to US media reports.
Trump first presented the suggestion of Jordan and Egypt hosting Palestinians from Gaza on January 25.
When asked if he meant it a short-term or long-term solution, he replied, “Could be either.”
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The U.S. president’s remarks echoed long-standing Palestinian fears of being permanently dislocated from their homes and were labeled as a proposal of ethnic cleansing by critics.
Jordan, Egypt and other Arab countries opposed the proposal.
“The Gaza reconstruction should be through direct engagement with and participation of the Gaza people. Palestinians will live in their land and assist rebuild it,” the letter said.
“And they should not be stripped of their agency during rebuilding as they must take ownership of the process with the help of the global 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 Tel Aviv denies.
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The war has currently paused amid a fragile ceasefire.
The latest violence in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was erupted on October 7, 2023, when Palestinian Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages.
