Cairo rejects displacement of Palestinians outside their land after Trump suggests Egypt ‘take’ Gaza Strip population

Egypt has struck out to reject the resettlement of Palestinians outside of Gaza after United States President Donald Trump told reporters that he wants Egypt and Jordan to "take" Palestinians from the strip for an indefinite period of time.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Sunday evening after Trump’s comments, which did not engage with the American president directly but stressed Egypt’s support for the “steadfastness of Palestinians on their land” and backed their “legitimate right to their homeland.”

The ministry also said it firmly “rejected any violation of those inalienable rights, whether through settlement expansion, annexation of land, or the removal of its rightful owners through displacement, or encouraging the transfer or uprooting of Palestinians from their land.”

Cairo’s comment came in the wake of a conversation Trump held with reporters on Saturday in which he said that he would like Egypt and Jordan to “take” Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, describing the coastal enclave as a “mess” which he would like to “clean out.”

"You’re talking about a million and half people, and we just clean out that whole thing," he said, adding that the aim would be to build housing for Gazans in another place where they can “maybe” live in peace. 

Trump’s suggestion came as hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza were preparing to return to their lands in the north of the strip, where much of the urban infrastructure has been completely destroyed by Israeli aggression over the past 15 months. 

“I’d like Egypt to take people,” Trump added, saying at the time that he would also speak with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Sunday, and that such a move “could be temporary, could be long-term.” Neither Egypt’s presidency nor the White House stated whether the call had taken place.

Egypt said it would oppose the displacement of Palestinians, “whether temporarily or over the long term” in its Sunday rebuttal, expressing at the same time its continued support for “the principles and parameters of a political solution to the Palestinian issue,” which it described as central to the region. 

Resolving the Palestinian issue, ending the occupation and restoring Paestininas’ stolen rights is the root cause of the region’s instability, the Foreign Ministry said.

Sisi has expressed the same position on prior occasions, most notably in response to Israeli reports and comments in the wake of October 2023 which called for Palestinians to move outside the strip. 

Millions of Egyptians would reject the idea, Sisi said at the time, saying mass displacement would amount to the liquidation of the Palestinian cause. 

He also expressed concern at the time that relocating Palestinians to Egypt would turn Sinai into a base for attacks against Israel.

From his side, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi also stressed his country’s firm and unwavering stance in rejecting the US proposal on Sunday morning, reiterating Jordan’s commitment toward a two-state solution as a way to establish peace in the region. 

“The solution to the Palestinian issue is a Palestinian solution, Jordan for Jordanians and Palestine for Palestinians,” he added.

Hamas expressed appreciation on Sunday evening for the “principled stance” of both its neighboring countries, taking the opportunity to reaffirm Palestinians’ commitment to their land and their rejection of displacement and expulsion. 

The movement also called on the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to reiterate their rejection of Palestinians’ displacement in any form.

On the Israeli side, far-right member of the ruling coalition and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the US president’s idea was “excellent,” describing "out-of-the-box thinking" as the way to bring peace and security as opposed to "impractical solutions like dividing the land and establishing a Palestinian state." He added that he would work on developing an operational plan for the implementation of Trump's idea. 

United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese described the proposal as a call for “ethnic cleansing,” which she noted is anything but "out-of the box," adding that it is illegal, immoral and irresponsible.

The rejections come eight days after the truce mediated by Egypt, Qatar and US came into effect, bringing a comparative calm to the strip following months of continuous Israeli bombing and launching the first stages of a prisoners release and exchange deal. 

The agreement is set to lead to a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip over three stages, although Israeli forces still stationed in the strip have opened fire at Palestinians in various areas since the agreement came to effect and the later phases of the deal still remain unclear. 

Under the Biden administration, the US has previously said it opposed the displacement of Palestinians in Gaza or the West Bank out of their land, in response to concerns by Arab countries at the time. 

Since the beginning of the Israeli onslaught on Gaza, around 4,000 Palestinians have been evacuated from the strip via the Rafah crossing into and through Egypt as of February of last year, months prior to Israel's invasion and occupation of the site in May, according to Egyptian health authorities.

Following a two-day delay, Israel finally began on Monday to allow Palestinians to enter the north of the strip by foot on Rashid Street, or via vehicles on Salah Eddin street, the first time that many have been able to return to search for lost family members and belongings since the war began.