Cairo (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The Egyptian government has expressed appreciation for President Donald Trump’s statement on not demanding that residents of Gaza leave the enclave, according to a statement from the foreign ministry.
A day earlier, Trump in a response to a question during a session in the White House with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin said,
“Nobody is expelling any Palestinians from Gaza.”
“This position reflects an understanding of the need to prevent further deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the importance of finding fair, sustainable solutions to the Palestinian issue,”
The Egyptian foreign ministry said.
What did Trump say about Palestinians leaving Gaza?
As of a month ago, Trump had announced a U.S. takeover of Gaza, where Israel’s military aggression in the last 17 months has killed tens of thousands, after earlier indicating that Palestinians in the enclave should be permanently expelled.
President Donald Trump said the U.S. would take over the war-ravaged Gaza Strip and revitalise it economically after Palestinians are resettled elsewhere. Trump revealed his surprise plan, without offering specifics, at a joint press conference with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
How has Hamas reacted to Trump’s latest position?
Furthermore, Hamas also welcomed Trump’s obvious retreat from his proposal for the displacement of Gazans, insisting on him to abstain from aligning with the vision of the “extreme Zionist right.”
“If US President Trump’s statements represent a retreat from any idea of displacing the people of the Gaza Strip, they are welcomed,”
The group said in the statement.
“We (Hamas) call for this position to be reinforced by obligating the Israeli occupation to implement all the terms of the ceasefire agreements.”
Earlier in March, Arab leaders assumed a $53 billion Egyptian reconstruction agenda for Gaza that would sidestep displacing Palestinians to oppose Trump’s vision of a “Middle East Riviera.”
