A coalition of Arab foreign ministers and leaders issued a joint statement on Saturday, formally rejecting President Donald Trump‘s proposal to move Palestinians out of Gaza to nearby Arab countries.

Newsweek has reached out to the White House for comment via email on Saturday.

Why It Matters

In late-January, days after being sworn into office, Trump said Jordan and Egypt should take in more Palestinian refugees from Gaza in an effort to “clean out” the territory. There are already more than 2.39 million Palestinian refugees in Jordan, according to the United Nations (U.N.).

Several Israeli officials have previously proposed relocating millions of Palestinians from Gaza to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula and other Arab countries, a move that would strip Palestinians of their homeland, which is a cornerstone of their history, identity, and culture.

Palestinian groups and international organizations have long condemned the proposals as forced displacement and ethnic cleansing, and on Saturday a group of Arab nations—which includes Egypt and Jordan—uniformly rejected Trump’s proposal.

What To Know

On Saturday, top diplomats from Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, the Palestinian Authority, Egypt, and the Arab League met in Cairo at Egypt’s invitation to discuss the future of Gaza and Trump’s proposal, among other regional matters.

Newsweek has contacted officials from all represented nations and organizations via email on Saturday for comment.

The meeting comes after over 15 months of war between Israel and Hamas. On October 7, 2023, Hamas attacked Israel, killing approximately 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages. Following that attack, Israel launched several ground and air operations in Gaza and closed off essential aid access points.

The small enclave has been devastated by the war, bombings and a lack of humanitarian aid. Israel has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. At least 1.9 million people—about 90 percent of the population—have been internally displaced by Israeli bombardments, according to the U.N.

Last week, Trump described Gaza as a “demolition site” and urged Jordan and Egypt to open their doors for all Gazans, suggesting the move could be temporary or long-term.

In the days that followed, Egypt and Jordan rejected the proposal, and on Saturday, a group of Arab nations and organizations issued a joint statement formally opposing it.

“We affirm our rejection of [any attempts] to compromise Palestinians’ unalienable rights, whether through settlement activities, or evictions or annex of land or through vacating the land from its owners…in any form or under any circumstances or justifications,” the statement said, according to Al Jazeera.

The group’s statement said Trump’s proposal would “threaten the region’s stability, risk expanding the conflict, and undermine prospects for peace and coexistence among its peoples,” according to the Associated Press.

However, the group noted that they are open to working with the Trump administration to “achieve a just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East, based on the two-state solution,” which seeks to establish an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel.

They also asked the international community to help “plan and implement” reconstruction plans for Gaza.

Since January 19, Israel and Hamas have observed a ceasefire, which Qatar helped negotiate. In the days that followed, there have been four exchanges of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, with the most recent occurring on Saturday.

What People Are Saying

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said last week during a press conference: “The solution to this issue is the two-state solution. It is the establishment of a Palestinian state. The solution is not to remove the Palestinian people from their place. No.”

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said last week that the country’s rejection of displacing Palestinians is “firm and unwavering.”

Kenneth Roth, former Human Rights Watch executive director, wrote in an X, formerly Twitter, post last Sunday: “Trump seems to endorse the far-right Israeli plan to ‘solve’ the problem of Hamas by expelling all Palestinians from Gaza — the massive war crime of forced deportation. If done with U.S. weapons, Trump could be charged with aiding and abetting them.”

Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican and Trump ally, said on CNN’s State of the Union last week: “The idea that all the Palestinians are going to leave and go somewhere, I don’t see that being overly practical. I don’t know what he [Trump] is talking about, but go talk to MBS [Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s crown prince], go talk to UAE [United Arab Emirates], go talk to Egypt—what is their plan for the Palestinians? Do they want them all to leave?…Does the Arab world support sending all the Palestinians out of Gaza? I’d be surprised if they did.”

What Happens Next?

On Saturday, the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, which has been controlled by Israel, opened for the first time in nearly nine months. Over 110 people, 50 patients and 61 caregivers, crossed over for medical treatment, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

In June, Saudi Arabia and France will host a summit in New York to discuss a two-state solution.