President Donald Trump again insisted that the United States would take control of the Gaza Strip as he met with the King of Jordan Abdullah in the White House on Tuesday.
This has been their first meeting since Trump announced his proposal to take up an enclave and move their population from two million Palestinians to other countries in the region, including Jordan.
Earlier this week, Trump suggested that he could refuse Jordan and Egypt's help, unless they agree to take these Gazani.
Jordan, a key ally of the United States in the Middle East, is now home to millions of Palestinians and has rejected the proposal. King Abdullah said after his meeting that “Jordan's unwavering position (IC) against the displacement of Palestinians.”
But speaking to reporters in the oval office, as King Abdulla was sitting on the right, Trump signaled that he would not focus on his idea that sparked a global condemnation when he revealed it last week.
“We'll take it. We'll keep it. We'll appreciate it,” he told Gaza.
Trump claims that “many jobs” will be created throughout the region if an American absorption on the devastated territory happens.
“I think this can be a diamond,” he said, adding that he now believes that the US “above” must threaten other countries to participate.
King Abdulla was sitting quietly next to Trump, as the president repeated a proposal that would increase decades of established US policy and could be a violation of international law, which prohibits the violent transfer of the population.
So far, Jordan has rejected the idea as a major violation of international law, but quietly expressed concerns about the ability of the kingdom to absorb a large number of Palestinians.
With regard to the possibility of adopting additional Palestinians, King Abdulla said that a solution would be “best for all”. He said Jordan would take 2000 unjustified Palestinian children.
However, Trump seemed motionless and repeated his position that he was expecting Jordan and Egypt to play a role in residential migrated Palestinians.
“I believe we will have a plot in Jordan. I believe we will have a plot in Egypt,” Trump said. “We may have somewhere else, but I think when we end our conversations, we will have a place where they will live very happily and very safely.”
After the meeting, King Abdulla wrote to X that the meeting was “constructive” and that his “most important commitment was Jordan, for his stability and for the well-being of the Jordanians.”
But he clarified his country's concerns with Trump's proposal.
“I repeated Jordan's unwavering position against the displacement of the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Coast,” he said. “This is the united Arab position.”
“The restoration of gas, without displacing the Palestinians and turning to the difficult humanitarian situation, must be a priority for everyone,” he added.
Jordan is already home to millions of people descending from Palestinian refugees who were forced from the ground, which became Israel in 1948, along with those whose roots lie east of the Jordan River.
The country has also mastered waves of refugees from Syria and is highly relying on US economic and military aid.
The UN warned that any forced displacement of civilians from an occupied territory was strictly prohibited under international law and “equivalent to ethnic cleansing”.
Trump on Tuesday seems to be avoiding a question about this UN warning.
“We move them to a beautiful place where they can have new homes where they can live safely, where doctors and medical and all these things can have,” he said.
King Abdullah said during the meeting that the issue would be discussed and both sides should “wait as long as the Egyptians” could present ideas.
The deal with Egypt is believed to be a proposal for the future Gaza government, supported by other Arab countries as a way of counteracting Trump's plan.
Although it is still formulated, it is estimated that the proposal may include a local technocrats derived from Palestinians in Gaza without connecting with fractions, including Hamas.
Ever since he first revealed the US proposal at a press conference last week, along with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump has repeatedly doubled on his gas plan, saying he was “committed to buying and owning it”.
In an interview with Fox News, aired earlier this week, Trump said two million Gaza residents would be resettled and had no right to return.
“They don't because they have a much better home,” he said. “I'm talking about building a permanent place for them.”