Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdellatti said that the Palestinians should be allowed to remain in their own territory and the reconstruction of Gaza should be completed quickly.
The Egyptian Foreign Minister made the message during a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington on Wednesday (February 12), Anadolu Agency reported.
At the meeting, he made it clear that Arab countries would in no way accept the plan to forcibly transfer Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.
A statement from the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said that it is necessary to take effective steps to resolve the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, but that Palestinians cannot be forced to leave their homes under any circumstances.
While the US State Department did not directly mention Trump's plan, Marco Rubio stressed close cooperation on the future governance and security of Gaza. He said Hamas cannot be allowed to control the Gaza Strip and that Israel's security will be ensured.
Foreign Minister Abdellatti said Egypt is ready to work with the new US administration, but it must be based on protecting Palestinian rights and stability in the Middle East. He also met with US Special Envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, and conveyed the same message.
Incidentally, the Palestinians see Gaza as part of their future state, so the proposal to leave Gaza is completely unacceptable to them. Regarding Trump's plan, Arab neighboring countries have also made it clear that they are not willing to shelter Palestinians displaced by the Gaza conflict in their countries.
Donald Trump initially proposed that Egypt and Jordan take in Palestinians from Gaza. He then went further and announced plans to establish US control over Gaza, where Palestinians would have no right of return. His plan has been met with fierce criticism around the world. Human rights groups and the United Nations see it as an attempt at ethnic cleansing.
Earlier, Jordan's King Abdullah II directly rejected the US proposal to evacuate Palestinians from Gaza. In a meeting with President Trump in Washington on Tuesday (February 11), he made it clear that Gaza would be reconstructed without the evacuation of Palestinians, and that this was the united position of the Arab world.
Analysts believe that this incident could create new tensions in the Middle East and open up new directions in relations between the United States and the Arab world.
