King Abdullah II of Jordan on Tuesday rebuffed President Trump’s proposal for his nation to soak up Palestinians dwelling in Gaza, saying that he remained against a plan Mr. Trump has laid out to clear the territory so america can seize management of it.
Throughout a “constructive” assembly with the U.S. president on the White Home, King Abdullah mentioned, he “reiterated Jordan’s steadfast place in opposition to the displacement of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Financial institution.”
“That is the unified Arab place,” he said in a publish on social media after the assembly. “Rebuilding Gaza with out displacing the Palestinians and addressing the dire humanitarian scenario needs to be the precedence for all.”
His assertion got here hours after Mr. Trump insisted america had the authority to “take” Gaza, a part of an effort to stress the chief of Jordan and different Arab nations to embrace a compelled elimination, which has drawn widespread condemnation.
“We may have Gaza,” mentioned Mr. Trump, as he sat subsequent to Mr. Abdullah and the Crown Prince Hussein of Jordan. “It’s a war-torn space. We’re going to take it. We’re going to carry it. We’re going to cherish it.”
Mr. Abdullah largely demurred when requested by reporters about Mr. Trump’s proposal, describing the president as a drive for peace within the area and saying Jordan was ready to help sick Palestinian kids.
However in line with his assertion, Mr. Abdullah was extra direct with Mr. Trump in personal.
“Attaining simply peace on the premise of the two-state answer is the best way to make sure regional stability,” King Abdullah mentioned within the publish. “This requires US management.”
The assembly got here every week after Mr. Trump declared that he wished america to grab management of Gaza and wished Jordan and Egypt to resettle the roughly two million Palestinians who name it residence. Each Jordan and Egypt rejected the concept when Mr. Trump raised it final week at a information convention with Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
In a assertion on social media on Tuesday, a spokesperson for Egypt’s international ministry mentioned that the nation would work with america on a “simply settlement of the Palestinian trigger,” however reiterated that Palestinians have to be allowed to stay of their homeland.
The assembly with King Abdullah amounted to not solely a pivotal second for a key ally within the Center East however extra broadly for the way forward for Gaza.
The talks got here because the cease-fire settlement within the warfare within the Gaza Strip seemed to be liable to breaking. Mr. Netanyahu warned Hamas on Tuesday that if hostages weren’t launched by midday on Saturday, then Israeli troops would resume “intense combating.” His assertion echoed an ultimatum Mr. Trump issued on Monday night and once more on Tuesday, that Hamas would wish to launch all remaining hostages by Saturday at noon.
“They both have them out by Saturday at 12 o’clock or all bets are off,” Mr. Trump mentioned.
Hamas has accused Israel of breaking a promise to ship a whole bunch of hundreds of tents into Gaza, a declare that three Israeli officers and two mediators mentioned was correct. The Israeli army unit that oversees assist deliveries, nonetheless, has mentioned that Hamas’s claims are “fully false accusations.”
The fragility of the cease-fire, in addition to Mr. Trump’s proposal for the compelled displacement of Palestinians, have put Arab leaders in “response mode,” in line with Jonathan Panikoff, the director of the Scowcroft Center East Safety Initiative on the Atlantic Council.
“All the area’s leaders try to steadiness what they view as an more and more unstable scenario,” Mr. Panikoff mentioned. “There’s at all times been battle now for nearly a yr and a half and it has not ever absolutely subsided. However now you will have a U.S. president who has threatened actions that will add kerosene to an already burning hearth.”
Mr. Trump in current days has dug in on his inconceivable proposal to completely resettle most Palestinians whereas america can be handed management of the territory by Israel after which redevelop it right into a hub for jobs and tourism. Mr. Trump has privately been speaking in regards to the notion of america taking management of Gaza for a number of weeks, in line with a number of individuals who have spoken with him.
Mr. Trump ramped up stress on Egypt and Jordan on the eve of King Abdullah’s go to when he mentioned he may minimize assist to Jordan except it took in Palestinians. As soon as resettled, Mr. Trump has mentioned, these Palestinians wouldn’t have the appropriate to return to Gaza. Requested how he would drive Palestinians to go away Gaza, Mr. Trump shrugged off the query. “They’re going to be nice,” he mentioned. “They’re going to be very joyful.”
American assist to Jordan, together with army assist, is at the moment frozen as a part of Mr. Trump’s halt to international help throughout the globe. Nonetheless, King Abdullah confronted the tough activity of making an attempt to guard the greater than $1.5 billion in international assist Jordan receives from america whereas additionally making an attempt to get Mr. Trump to again off his calls for for the mass elimination of Palestinians.
Mr. Trump appeared to stroll again his suggestion that he would minimize assist to Jordan on Tuesday, saying, “We’re above that.”
The monarchy is worried that accepting an inflow of roughly two million refugees may inflame tensions between residents of Palestinian descent and people who should not, analysts say. Greater than half of King Abdullah’s 12 million topics are of Palestinian descent. Jordan is already residence to roughly 700,000 refugees, most of them Syrians who fled from that nation’s civil warfare.
Jordan’s parliament simply final week launched a invoice that will ban the resettlement of Palestinians within the nation. King Abdullah may attempt to persuade Mr. Trump that his hope to maneuver Palestinians out of Gaza would complicate his administration’s broader efforts to get Saudi Arabia to hitch Mr. Trump’s 2020 Abraham Accords, which established formal ties between Israel and 4 Arab nations.
Quite than initially push again publicly on Mr. Trump, King Abdullah appeared to try to placate the president by saying Jordan would absorb 2,000 Palestinian kids struggling most cancers and different sicknesses. Mr. Trump responded gleefully to the assertion, calling it a “stunning gesture,” despite the fact that international coverage analysts mentioned Jordan had beforehand signaled it might absorb sick kids from Gaza.
Brian Katulis, a senior fellow on the Center East Institute, mentioned that King Abdullah’s provide drew from a well-established “playbook” utilized by Arab leaders once they cope with Mr. Trump.
Arab leaders, he mentioned, “know how one can placate Trump — after which work with the intense individuals on his workforce who’ve the job of creating sense of his nonsense.”
Michael Crowley contributed reporting.