US President Donald Trump has said he would like to see Jordan, Egypt and other Arab nations increase the number of Palestinian refugees they are accepting from the Gaza Strip – potentially moving out enough of the population to “just clean out” the war-torn area to create a virtual clean slate.
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During a 20-minute question and answer session with reporters aboard Air Force One on Saturday, Trump said he discussed his vision on a call earlier in the day with King Abdullah II of Jordan.
“I’d like him to take people. I’d like Egypt to take people,” Trump said. “You’re talking about, probably a million and a half people, and we just clean out that whole thing and say, ‘You know it’s, over.’”
Speaking about the effects of Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza, Trump said he complimented Jordan for having successfully accepted Palestinian refugees and that he told the king: “I’d love for you to take on more, cause I’m looking at the whole Gaza Strip right now, and it’s a mess. It’s a real mess.”
Trump said he would also speak to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Sunday on the matter. “I’d like Egypt to take people.”
On such a mass movement of Palestinians, he said “it could be temporary or long term”. “Over centuries”, the area of the world that included Gaza had “had many, many conflicts”, he added.