Photo Displaced Palestinians passing through the central Gaza Strip as they try to return to northern Gaza on Sunday. Israeli troops shot into the crowd, forcing people to turn back in panic, according to an emergency worker and two people who tried to make the journey. Credit…Ramadan Abed/Reuters
Jordan’s FM also rejects suggestion, after US president says he discussed it with King Abdullah; Hamas politburo vows Palestinians will ‘foil such projects’ as they have in past
Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas on Sunday condemned “any projects” to relocate the people of Gaza outside the Palestinian enclave after US President Donald Trump suggested moving them to Egypt and Jordan, adding to a chorus of rejection of the proposal from around the Arab world.
Without naming the US leader, Abbas “expressed strong rejection and condemnation of any projects aimed at displacing our people from the Gaza Strip,” a statement from his office said, adding that the Palestinian people “will not abandon their land and holy sites.”
Trump, less than a week into his second term as president, said on Saturday that he wanted Jordan and Egypt to take Palestinians from Gaza, suggesting “we just clean out that whole thing.”
The idea was swiftly rejected by Jordan Egypt.
In the statement issued by the PA presidency, based in the West Bank, Abbas said: “We will not allow the repetition of the catastrophes that befell our people in 1948 and 1967.”
1948 is known to Palestinians as the Nakba, or “catastrophe,” which refers to the 700,000 Palestinians who fled or were driven out of what is now Israel before and during the War of Independence in 1948, after the UN-proposed division of Palestine was rejected by Arabs in Palestine and Arab states
1967 refers to the June 5 war between Egypt and Syria which resulted in the occupation of the West Bank, the Golan Heights of Syria and Sinai of Egypt
President Donald Trump’s return to the White House has already revealed itself as a nightmare for the Palestinian people. In just his first week back in office, his actions have sent shockwaves through the Middle East, signaling an administration poised to deepen divisions and escalate conflict.
One of his earliest moves was to repeal sanctions on violent Israeli settlers who have carried out attacks on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. This decision emboldens extremist settlers and undermines the already fragile efforts to ensure the safety and dignity of Palestinians living under occupation.
Within hours of Trump assuming office, Israel launched an assault on the West Bank city of Jenin. This was quickly followed by his decision to lift the pause on shipments of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel, providing the tools for further devastation in Gaza. The humanitarian crisis in the region has only worsened, as Trump urged Jordan and Egypt to accept millions of displaced Palestinians from Gaza. This move aligns with Israel’s longstanding agenda of dispossessing Palestinians while ignoring the catastrophic human toll.
News Agencies