(BBC News) US President Donald Trump has said he wants Egypt and Jordan to take in Palestinians from Gaza.
Trump said he had made the request to Jordan’s King Abdullah and planned to ask Egypt’s president on Sunday, too.
Describing Gaza as a “demolition site”, Trump said: “You’re talking about probably a million and a half people, and we just clean out that whole thing.” He added that the move “could be temporary” or “could be long-term”.
Both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority condemned the proposal. Jordan and Egypt have also rejected the idea.
Most of Gaza’s two million residents have been displaced in the past 15 months of war, which has flattened much of Gaza’s infrastructure.
The United Nations has previously estimated that 60% of structures across Gaza have been damaged or destroyed, and it could take decades to rebuild.
Trump made his comments while speaking to reporters on board the Air Force One.
“Almost everything is demolished and people are dying there.
“So I’d rather get involved with some of the Arab nations and build housing at a different location where maybe they can live in peace for a change.”
Trump did not give further details of the proposal, and the subject was not referenced in the White House’s official read-out of the call.
It is not clear whether the US president has formally made the request to Egypt, but its foreign ministry has rejected any such effort “whether through settlement or annexation of land, or by evicting Palestinians from their land through displacement or encouraging the relocation or uprooting of Palestinians from their land, whether temporarily or long-term.”
Jordan’s foreign minister said the kingdom said it was “firm and unwavering” in its rejection of displacing Palestinians.
The US is by far the biggest supplier of arms to Israel, having helped it build one of the most technologically sophisticated militaries in the world.
But the war in Gaza led to renewed calls for the US to reduce or end arms shipments to Israel, because of the level of destruction caused by US weapons in the territory.
