In addition to saying that Palestinians should leave the Gaza Strip in order to clear out the enclave, President Donald Trump claimed on Saturday that he has requested the King of Jordan to accept more Palestinians.
The president’s remarks, which have been seen as encouraging by prominent members of Israel’s far right, came as thousands of Palestinians in northern Gaza awaited their return home after the Israeli government accused Hamas of violating a ceasefire and refused to open crossing points.
On Saturday, Trump told reporters on Air Force One, “You’re talking about probably a million and a half people, and we just clean out that whole thing.”
He continued, “I would prefer to work with some of the Arab countries and construct housing in a different area where they might be able to live in peace for a change.”
Trump proposed that nations like Jordan and Egypt take in more refugees.
Trump said he had urged Jordan’s King Abdullah, “I’d love you to take on more Palestinians,” referring to an earlier meeting. He also said he will bring up the issue with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi on Sunday.
Ultranationalist Israeli politicians, such as Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, who resigned as national security minister after Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government voted to accept the ceasefire agreement, praised Trump’s remarks, even though the Israeli prime minister’s office had not yet responded to NBC News’ request for comment on the president’s remarks.
Smotrich told Israeli station Channel 12 on Sunday that only innovative ideas and fresh approaches could bring peace and security, calling the plan to find new homes for Gaza Palestinians “wonderful.”
In a post on X, Ben-Gvir also praised Trump on the endeavor.
However, top Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri stated that the Gazan people had suffered death to stay in their homes and would not leave for any other reason.
He went on to say that the issues facing the Gaza Strip can be resolved just by putting the agreement into effect.
Furthermore, regardless of how it is framed, ethnic cleansing is anything but unconventional, according to United Nations Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese on X on Sunday.
A request for comment on the issue had not received a response from the governments of Egypt or Jordan.
Additionally, Trump acknowledged that he had given the order for the U.S. military to start sending 2,000-pound bombs to Israel again. Under President Joe Biden, these shipments had been suspended due to worries about civilian casualties. Trump said, “They bought them,” in response to the question of why he had approved the unleashing of these devices.
Even though the shipments resumed, a tenuous ceasefire between Israel and Hamas remained in place on Sunday, even though both parties accused the other of breaking some of the agreement.
Israeli officials argued that Hamas was supposed to release all female civilians it is holding hostage before it released four female soldiers in exchange for prisoners and detainees on Saturday, despite Hamas officials saying that allowing Palestinians to return to their homes in the northern Gaza Strip was a crucial requirement of the truce.
Arbel Yehud, 29, is one such hostage whose fate could now determine the ceasefire’s destiny.
The Israeli prime minister’s office declared on Saturday that unless Arbel Yehud, a civilian, is freed, the IDF will not permit Gazans to return to the northern part of the Strip.
Israeli military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari also said that Hamas had broken the ceasefire by failing to release civilian hostages prior to the agreement. These hostages included Shiri Bibas, 33, who was kidnapped along with her two sons, Kfir, 2, and Ariel, 5.
Although the Israeli government has stated that it cannot confirm Hamas’s claim that they were killed in an Israeli airstrike, their fate is unclear.
On October 7, 2023, the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a terror strike on Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage. This marked the start of the fighting in Gaza. According to local officials, Israel killed about 47,000 people during its air and land attack on Gaza, the majority of whom were civilians.
Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic spokeswoman, stated on X early on Sunday morning that Hamas’ violation of the cease-fire agreement meant that the Netzarim corridor, a military area in Gaza City that serves as a physical barrier between northern and central Gaza, remained blocked.
Although it was initially thought that Islamic Jihad was holding Yehud, it is unknown why she has not been released.
In response, Hamas has blamed Israel for any delays in implementing the conditions of the truce, accusing it of blocking important regions and preventing Palestinians from going back to their homes.
According to the Hamas statement, Israel is still breaking the ceasefire agreement, delaying and impeding the fulfillment of its obligations. The deal also requires Israel to leave the Netzarim corridor.
It further stated that Israel was solely to blame for the dire humanitarian outcomes.
CLARIFICATION (at 6:52 p.m. ET on January 26, 2025): A quote from Trump was not fully reproduced in an earlier version of this article. “You’re talking about probably a million and a half people, and we just clean out that whole thing,” he stated in his entirety. You know, there have been a lot of wars at that location over the ages.