File photo: Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi. AFP
"All talk about an alternative homeland for Palestinians is rejected. We will not accept it and will continue to confront it," FM Safadi said in a briefing before the House of Representatives.
"Jordan is for Jordanians, and Palestine is for Palestinians. The resolution of the Palestinian issue must be on Palestinian soil," he affirmed.
On Sunday, US President Donald Trump said he would like to see Jordan, Egypt, and other Arab nations increase the number of Palestinians they are accepting from the Gaza Strip, potentially moving out enough population to “just clean out” the war-torn area.
Trump said he had spoken with King Abdullah II of Jordan earlier in the day and would speak with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi on Sunday.
“I’d like Egypt to take people,” Trump said. “You’re talking about probably a million and a half people, and we just clean out that whole thing and say, ‘You know, it’s over.’”
Trump said he complimented Jordan for having successfully accepted Palestinian refugees and that he told the king: “I’d love for you to take on more, cause I’m looking at the whole Gaza Strip right now, and it’s a mess. It’s a real mess.”
However, the Jordanian parliament warned on Monday that denying Palestinian rights will keep the region in tension and turmoil.
"We reaffirm our rejection of all illusions of displacement aimed at liquidating the Palestinian cause at the expense of Jordan and Egypt," the Jordanian House of Representatives said in a statement.
"Jordan will not be an alternative homeland for attempts to displace the steadfast Palestinian people," the statement added.
Meanwhile, the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Sunday that Cairo categorically rejects any displacement of Palestinians from their land, be it "short term" or "long term."
In its statement, the ministry reiterated Egypt's steadfast adherence to the principles and parameters of a political settlement for the Palestinian cause, emphasizing that it remains the central issue in the Middle East.
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