CAIRO (AP) — Powerful Arab nations on Saturday rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s suggestion to relocate Palestinians from Gaza to neighboring Egypt and Jordan.
Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, the Palestinian Authority and the Arab League released a joint statement rejecting any plans to move Palestinians out of their territories in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
The statement warned that such plans “threaten the region’s stability, risk expanding the conflict, and undermine prospects for peace and coexistence among its peoples.”
The statement followed a meeting in Cairo of top diplomats from Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, as well as Hussein al-Sheikh — a senior Palestinian official who serves as the main liaison with Israel — and Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul-Gheit.
Last month Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi told a news conference that the transfer of Palestinians “can’t ever be tolerated or allowed.”
“The solution to this issue is the two-state solution. It is the establishment of a Palestinian state,” he said. “The solution is not to remove the Palestinian people from their place. No.”
The Associated Press
