DUBAI (Reuters) – Egypt said on Friday it had been in contact with Arab partners including Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to firm up the region’s rejection of any displacement of Palestinians after U.S. President Donald Trump said they should go from Gaza.
Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty had been in communication with counterparts from 11 nations, a statement said.
Those had emphasised “the constants of the Arab position on the Palestinian cause, rejecting any measures aimed at displacing the Palestinian people from their land, or encouraging their transfer to other countries outside the Palestinian territories,” it said.
Trump has suggested the U.S. take control of Gaza from Israel and create a “Riviera of the Middle East” after resettling Palestinians elsewhere including Egypt and Jordan. But Arab nations want to see a two-state solution with a separate Palestinian homeland alongside Israel.
Moving Palestinians would represent “flagrant violation of international law, an infringement on Palestinian rights, a threat to security and stability in the region and an undermining of opportunities for peace and coexistence among its peoples,” Egypt’s statement said.
Rather, Egypt was looking with other Arab nations at how to rebuild and clean up Gaza after Israel’s military campaign decimated the strip in response to Palestinian militant group Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border attack on Israel.
Egyptian security sources told Reuters that the nation’s presidency, military and intelligence were united in rejecting Trump’s plan despite disagreements on how to respond.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has said Egyptians would take to the streets to oppose resettling Palestinians.
Egypt has been an important U.S. ally in the region and helped broker the Gaza ceasefire with Qatar and the U.S.
(Reporting by Nayera Abdallah in Dubai, Ahmed Mohamed Hassan in Cairo, Editing by Toby Chopra)
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