Trump spoke to Egyptian president about plan to evict Palestinians from Gaza
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Trump and Sisi in 2018. Photo: Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images
President Trump spoke on Saturday with Egyptian President Abdul Fatah el-Sisi to discuss his idea of moving Palestinians from Gaza to Egypt and Jordan in order to rebuild the enclave.
Why it matters: Trump's comments about moving Palestinians from Gaza alarmed the Egyptians, who see the transfer of Palestinians from Gaza to their territory as a threat to national security. Trump's idea would also involve displacing two million people.
- At the beginning of the war, when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu raised this idea, Sisi made it clear that such a move would jeopardize the peace agreement between Israel and Egypt.
What they're saying: Cairo confirmed the call and said Sisi invited Trump to visit Egypt as soon as possible in order to "strengthen strategic relations between the two countries and discuss the complex issues and crises facing the Middle East," as well as to participate in the opening of the new Egyptian Museum.
- Trump extended an open invitation to Sisi to visit Washington, the Egyptian presidency said.
- Sisi's spokesperson said the call was positive and the leaders discussed "the importance of continuing to implement the first and second phases of the Gaza ceasefire deal in order to stabilize the ceasefire."
Driving the news: Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One last Saturday that he wants Jordan and Egypt to take Palestinians from Gaza into their territory "temporarily or long term" while Gaza is being "cleaned up."
- U.S. officials said Trump's comments were connected to the immense destruction in Gaza and the need for a huge rebuilding effort.
- White House envoy Steve Witkoff told Axios this process could take 10-15 years and stressed that currently Gaza "is uninhabitable."
Over the last week, Trump has spoken three times in public about his idea of moving Palestinians from Gaza to Egypt and Jordan.
- Trump said he believes Egypt and Jordan will eventually agree to take Palestinians from Gaza to reciprocate for the assistance they have received from his administration over the years.
- Egypt was the only country other than Israel that received a waiver from Trump's decision to freeze all U.S. foreign aid.
The other side: Sisi and Jordan's foreign minister both said publicly in recent days that they oppose Trump's idea.
- On Saturday, after a meeting of their foreign ministers in Cairo, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority and the Arab League issued a joint statement rejecting Trump's idea.
- "The participants stressed the importance of the international community's concerted efforts to plan and implement a comprehensive reconstruction process in the Gaza Strip, as soon as possible, in a way that ensures the Palestinians remain on their land," they wrote.
- The Arab foreign ministers stressed they oppose any attempt to infringe on the rights of the Palestinians in Gaza to their land "through evacuating that land of its owners through displacement or encouraging the transfer or uprooting of Palestinians from their land in any way or under any circumstances or justifications."
- They added that such a move will threaten stability, continue the conflict in the region and "undermine the chances of peace."
