President Trump mentioned Monday he would take into account withholding help to Jordan and Egypt if they don’t agree to absorb Palestinians as a part of a plan for the U.S. to take over and develop the Gaza Strip.
“Would you withhold aid to these countries if they don’t agree to take in the Palestinians?” Trump was requested throughout a gaggle with reporters within the Oval Workplace.
“Yeah, maybe. Sure, why not?” Trump responded. “If they don’t agree, I would conceivably withhold aid. Yeah.”
Jordan and Egypt are among the many high recipients of U.S. army help.
The U.S. and Jordan signed a memorandum in 2022 through which the U.S. dedicated to offering greater than $1 billion yearly in international help. The U.S. supplied roughly $1.5 billion in international help to Egypt in fiscal 2023.
Trump final month known as on Egypt and Jordan to absorb extra Palestinians from Gaza, a lot of which has been decimated by the struggle between Hamas and Israel that broke out in October 2023 after Hamas carried out an assault on Israel.
Since then, Trump has proposed that america may take management of the Gaza Strip and rebuild it into an financial improvement. Whereas the White Home has mentioned Palestinians could be briefly relocated whereas Gaza is rebuilt, Trump has repeatedly prompt Palestinians would don’t have any want to return to Gaza and floated the potential for them not being allowed again.
“They would love to leave Gaza if they could find a place to be,” Trump mentioned Monday.
Arab leaders within the area have mentioned efforts to displace Palestinians or transfer them into neighboring nations are a nonstarter. Egypt and Jordan, nations with peace treaties with Israel, oppose absorbing Palestinians, claiming it poses a safety threat, is destabilizing and threatens to impress mass opposition.
Jordan already homes about 3 million Palestinians, a lot of whom have already got been displaced by prior wars.
Trump is predicted to fulfill with Jordan’s king in Washington on Tuesday, and the Gaza Strip and its future will probably be a key element of their discussions. King Abdullah II has already come out in opposition of taking in Palestinians from Gaza, as has Egypt.
Egypt introduced Sunday it might host a summit of Arab nations on Feb. 27 to debate the newest developments round the way forward for Palestinians, in keeping with The Related Press.
