US president says he wants people to move to neighbouring nations, after resuming shipments of 2,000-lb bombs to Israel

Emma Graham-Harrison in Jerusalem, The Guardian, 26 Jan 2025

Donald Trump has suggested large numbers of Palestinians should leave Gaza to “just clean out” the whole strip, after ordering the US military to restart shipments of 2,000-lb bombs to Israel.

The US president said he wanted Gaza residents to move to neighbouring nations, and that they could be displaced “temporarily or could be long-term”, after a phone call with Jordan’s King Abdullah on Saturday.

“I’d rather get involved with some of the Arab nations and build housing at a different location where they can maybe live in peace for a change,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One. “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.’”

Gaza has 2.3 million residents. Trump said he asked King Abdullah if the country would take in more Palestinians. Jordan is already home to 2.4 million Palestinian refugees, from families expelled in 1948 after the creation of Israel.

“I said to him: I’d love you to take on more because I’m looking at the whole Gaza Strip right now and it’s a mess, it’s a real mess. I’d like him to take people,” Trump said, when asked about the call.

He also suggested Egypt as a destination for Gaza residents, and said he would raise the issue with President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi on Sunday.

Since the start of the war in 2023, Egypt has warned repeatedly against forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, and reinforced its border. Sisi has said any move to push people into Sinai would jeopardise relations with Israel, including the 1979 peace treaty between the two countries.

Mustafa Barghouti, a senior Palestinian politician, said he “completely rejected” Trump’s comments, the Palestinian news agency Ma’an reported. Barghouti warned against attempts at “ethnic cleansing” in Gaza, saying: “The Palestinian people are committed to remaining in their homeland.”

Inside Israel there have been calls since the start of the war for the permanent and forcible transfer of its residents. Trump’s comments were welcomed by far-right politicians who back Jewish settlements in Gaza.

The Israeli finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, described relocation of Palestinians as a “great idea”, and said he would work with the prime minister and cabinet to create an “operational plan for implementation” as soon as possible.

Before Trump took office, an official from his transition team said the administration was discussing relocating 2 million Palestinians during reconstruction if a current tentative ceasefire holds, with Indonesia one possible destination. Jakarta said it was not aware of any such plan.

Trump has not laid out any vision for postwar governance in Gaza. While signing executive orders after his inauguration he discussed the territory as a real estate prospect, praising its seaside location and weather. “I looked at a picture of Gaza, it’s like a massive demolition site,” he said on Tuesday, adding: “It’s gotta be rebuilt in a different way.”

Qatari officials, who mediated the pause in fighting in Gaza, described “any plan that would end with relocation or reoccupation” as a red line.

Trump’s new administration has promised “unwavering support” for Israel, and key positions have been taken by hardline supporters of its expansion. Trump’s ambassador to the UN said in confirmation hearings that she considered Israel had a “biblical right” to the West Bank, which Israel occupied in 1967 but most of the world recognises as the heart of a future Palestinian state.

On Saturday Trump said he had ordered the resumption of shipments of some of the largest bombs to Israel, a widely expected move. Biden had paused delivery of the 2,000-lb bombs owing to concerns about civilian casualties in Gaza caused by the powerful weapons, which can rip through thick concrete and metal over a large area.

When asked why he released the powerful bombs, Trump responded: “Because they bought them.”

The Biden administration had sent thousands of 2,000-lb bombs to Israel after the war began, before it halted the shipments last year.