President Trump Said On Monday that he could cut aid to jordan and egypt if they refuse his demand to permanently take in most palestinians from Gaza, substantially include the press on key allies in the region to back his audacious proposal to relocate the whole population of the territory to redevelop it.
The president also declared from the White House that if Hamas did not publish all the Israeli hostages remaining at “12 noon on Saturday”, the cease-fire agreement with Israel should be canceled.
“All hell will break out,” Trump told journalists from the oval office, while recognizing that the choice of the end of the ceasefire finally fell into Israel.
Jordan and Egypt, both main recipients of American military and economic aid, have rejected any suggestion that the Palestinians are moved to their country. But Trump said on Monday that aid could be in danger.
“If they do not agree, I would retain help,” he told journalists in response to a question one day before a meeting with King Abdullah II of Jordan.
Trump developed the idea of a forced displacement of around two million Palestinians, a decision which, according to some researchers, would constitute a war crime and ethnic cleaning. In an interview with Fox News broadcast on Monday, Trump said he was not aware of the Palestinians who left Gaza to make way for the redevelopment plan.
Asked in the interview if the Palestinians would finally have “would have the right to return” to Gaza after the end of his proposed construction projects, the president said: “No, they would not do it”.
As for where they could go, he said, “I think I could conclude an agreement with Jordan. I think I could conclude an agreement with Egypt. »»
Mr. Trump’s proposal sent shock waves throughout the Middle East and dominate the meeting with the Jordanian chief for a particularly volatile period in the region.
Mr. Trump’s remarks on the relocation plan revealed the pressure on King Abdullah, who would probably be engulfed in his own domestic crisis if the Palestinians were forced to Jordan.
It is estimated that more than half of the Jordanian population is Palestinian; The nation is already unstable by tensions between citizens of Palestinian origin and those who are not, say analysts.
“What Mr. Trump has done is to put the future of the Kingdom of Jordan on the line,” said Khalil Jahshan, executive director of the Washington DC Arab Center “The strongest political movement of Jordan n ‘ does not accept the idea that Jordan is Palestine.
Before meeting Mr. Trump at the White House, King Abdullah was to meet Steven Witkoff, Mr. Trump’s envoy in the Middle East. He also had to meet Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Mike Waltz, Trump’s national security advisor.
The fact that the president is willing to exert pressure to the main allies of the region also indicates that he has little intention of withdrawing from his lasting ideas on the American property of the territory torn by the war and the displacement of the Palestinians.
In the interview with Bret Baier de Fox News, Mr. Trump has so far provided his most extensive comments on the way in which he plans to move the population of Gaza to Jordan, Egypt and other nations of the region.
“We are going to build the safe communities where they are where all this danger is,” he said. “In the meantime, I would have this. Consider it as a real estate development for the future. It would be a magnificent land.
Once far, he said, the Palestinians “would have much better accommodation” than in Gaza and would not need to come back.
“I’m talking about building a permanent place for them,” said Trump.
Mr. Trump’s proposal was not verified by the president’s main advisers before unveiling it last week, and some White House officials had sought to soften it, insisting that it does not was not committed to using American troops to eliminate the territory and that any relocation of the Palestinians would be temporary.
But Mr. Trump returned to the idea several times, saying that other nations in the region would pay for this, that the Israeli army would ensure security and that he thought it was possible to move the population of Gaza elsewhere.
The realization of such a proposal is strongly opposed by Egypt as well as by Jordan. Cairo has resumed acceptance of Palestinian refugees from security problems. Activists could target Israel of Egyptian soil, inviting Israeli reprisals, or being recruited in the local Insurrection of Sinai.
At the same time, Jordan’s monarchy has a tense history with militant Palestinian factions.
The extreme right in Israel has long argued that the Palestinians forced to leave Gaza and that the West Bank should reinstall themselves in Jordan. Accepting the Palestinians of Gaza would arouse concerns among the Jordanians whom Israel would then try to push people out of the West Bank.
“Obviously, the king cannot take these people,” said James Jeffrey, the former Syria of Trump’s Syria. “This is an existential problem for him.”
“It would be a regime killer,” said Jeffrey.
The Jordanian king himself could try to argue that the forced displacement of the Palestinians would destabilize the region of the Middle East and complicate the efforts of the United States to bring Saudi Arabia to join the Abraham 2020 agreements of Mr. Trump , which have established official links between Israel and four Arab countries.
But Jordan, like Egypt, is also among the best recipients of American military aid, providing Trump the lever in his dialogue with King Abdullah.
Even before the meeting, Trump was doubled his proposal meant that the king was in a difficult visit to Washington.
“All of this is being made a blow in the mind of the king,” said Aaron David Miller, main member of the Endowment for International Peace Carnegie and former analyst and negotiator of the Middle East with the State Department. “The king will try to find a way to go to the pass.”
“I think the king hopes to be able to dodge a bullet,” said Mr. Miller.
Ephrat Livni Contribution of Washington reports.
