Dubai (TDI): US President Donald Trump’s plan to take over Gaza and resettle Palestinians, which has drawn global condemnation, will threaten a fragile ceasefire in the enclave and fuel regional instability, Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit warned on Wednesday.
Ahmed Aboul Gheit told the World Government Summit in Dubai that if US President Donald Trump pressed ahead with his plan, he would lead the Middle East into a new cycle of crises with a “harmful effect on peace and stability.”
Trump enraged the Arab world by declaring unexpectedly that the US would take over Gaza, resettle its more than 2 million Palestinian population and develop it into the “Riviera of the Middle East.”
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After sixteen months of Israeli air strikes in the Gaza war following Hamas’ attacks on Israel in October 2023, Palestinians fear a repeat of the “Nakba,” or catastrophe, when about 800,000 people fled or were driven out during the 1948 war that led to the establishment of Israel.
Trump has declared they would have no right to return.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday the ceasefire in Gaza would end and the military would resume attacks against Hamas until it was defeated if the Palestinian group did not release hostages by midday on Saturday.
Hamas later issued a statement renewing its commitment to the ceasefire deal and accusing Israel of jeopardizing it.
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Jasem Al-Budaiwi, who heads the oil-rich Gulf Cooperation Council political and economic alliance, urged Trump to remember the strong relations between the region and Washington.
Moreover, China reiterated its opposition to what it termed “forced displacement” of Palestinian people.
Foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a media conference on Wednesday that Gaza belongs to the Palestinians and is an integral part of the Palestinian territory.
China opposes the forced displacement of the people of Gaza, he added.
