
Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty (C) heads a meeting with ministers from Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE, to discuss US President Donald Trump’s proposal for Egypt and Jordan to host Palestinians displaced from the Gaza Strip, in Cairo. AFP
A few days ahead of the meeting in Washington in which Netanyahu’s aides said he would discuss how to redraw the future of the Middle East following 15 months of Israel’s genocidal war against the Palestinian people in Gaza, five foreign ministers representing the United States’ closest Arab allies – Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Jordan – as well as a senior Palestinian Authority official, met in Cairo on 1 February and issued a clearly-worded statement that was very much needed during this turbulent time.
Despite the widespread outrage across the region following Trump’s repeated statements in which he proposed moving 1.5 million Palestinians to Egypt and Jordan while “cleaning up” the densely populated Gaza Strip, practically liquidating the Palestinian cause and ending any hope of creating an independent Palestinian state, the five Arab foreign ministers and the PA representative responded with a reminder of the basic rights of the Palestinian people, and warned of the dire consequences of ignoring them.
In the carefully worded statement, the Arab official confirmed “their commitment to working with the administration of US President Donald Trump to pursue a just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East, in line with the two-state solution, and to strive for a conflict-free region”. They also commended and acknowledged “the important role played by the United States” in reaching the recent ceasefire agreement in Gaza that is about to enter its fourth week and the critical stage of negotiations over the details of the second stage which is supposed to lead towards a permanent end to the war, as well as Israel’s complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
To the surprise of many Arab governments and observers, Trump’s bizarre proposal on moving Palestinians to Egypt and Jordan goes contrary to the pledges made in the ceasefire agreement which was negotiated by Steve Witkoff, the personal envoy of the US president. Nowhere in that agreement is there any mention of moving Palestinians while working on rebuilding the nearly totally devastated Gaza Strip.
On the contrary, the agreement’s third stage aims at carrying out a massive reconstruction plan in which Arab countries and the international community take part, while at the same time allowing more than one million displaced Palestinians to return to their cities and homes in the northern parts.
Besides the statement issued by the Arab foreign ministers who met in Cairo early this week, Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty affirmed that Egypt and other Arab countries had a detailed plan to rebuild Gaza within five years “without moving any Palestinian out of his land”.
Without making direct reference to Trump’s recent proposal, the Arab foreign ministers expressed “the continued full support for the steadfastness of the Palestinian people on their land and their adherence to their legitimate rights under international law”. They also “affirmed their rejection of any violation of these inalienable rights, whether through settlement activities, the expulsion and demolition of homes, land annexation, or the displacement of Palestinians from their land”.
Mincing no words, the close US Arab allies confirmed they “rejected any efforts to encourage the transfer or uprooting of Palestinians from their land, under any circumstances or justifications”. Such actions, they noted, “threaten regional stability, exacerbate the conflict, and undermine the prospects for peace and coexistence among the region’s peoples”.
The Arab ministers also noted “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 manner that ensures the Palestinians remain on their land, especially in light of the steadfastness and complete adherence to their land demonstrated by the Palestinian people, and in a manner that contributes to improving the daily lives of the Palestinian residents of the strip on their land, and addresses the problems of internal displacement, until the reconstruction process is completed.”
And while Israel’s Netanyahu is using the opportunity of his meeting with Trump in order to delay the beginning of the expectedly difficult negotiations over the second stage of the ceasefire agreement, the Arab ministers “called for the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza” according to schedule, and firmly rejected any attempts to divide the Strip.
The participants also emphasised the need to enable the Palestinian Authority to resume its responsibilities in Gaza as part of the Occupied Palestinian Territories, alongside the West Bank and East Jerusalem, to allow the international community to address the humanitarian crisis caused by the Israeli aggression.
The unimaginable humanitarian crisis in Gaza will be the core topic of discussion at an international conference which Egypt plans to host soon in cooperation with the United Nations. In this respect, the Arab ministers confirmed their backing of the vital continuation of the important work done by the UN agency UNRWA in support of Palestinian refugees and rejected Israel’s decision to bar the agency from working in Occupied Palestinian Territories or communication with its officials.
In the same framework, Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi had an important phone call with Trump on Saturday in which he underscored the critical importance of advancing the implementation of the first and second phases of the ceasefire agreement, and ensuring the stabilisation of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
According to a presidential statement, Al-Sisi reiterated “the imperative of reaching a lasting peace in the Middle East” and “affirmed that the international community places its trust in President Trump’s capacity to secure a historic and enduring peace agreement which would bring an end to the decades-long conflict in the region. This is grounded in President Trump’s commitment to peace which he underscored in his inaugural address, as a man of peace.”
This will likely be the same message Trump hears from Jordan’s King Abdullah when the two leaders meet in Washington next week. Jordan has clearly stated that it would never accept the displacement of Palestinians to its territory instead of working to create their own state, describing this policy as a “red line”.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 6 February, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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