Five Arab foreign ministers, along with a senior Palestinian official, have jointly sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, strongly opposing any plans to relocate Palestinians from Gaza, an idea suggested by President Donald Trump in late January.
The letter, dispatched on Monday, was signed by the foreign ministers of Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE, alongside Palestinian presidential adviser Hussein al-Sheikh. Axios first reported the letter, noting that the top diplomats had convened in Cairo over the weekend.
Trump initially raised the idea of Jordan and Egypt accepting displaced Palestinians from Gaza on January 25. When asked whether this was intended as a temporary or permanent solution, he responded, “Could be either.”
His remarks reinforced longstanding Palestinian concerns about forced displacement and were widely condemned by critics as a form of ethnic cleansing. Jordan, Egypt, and other Arab nations firmly rejected the proposal.
“Reconstruction in Gaza should be carried out with direct involvement and participation of the people of Gaza. Palestinians must remain on their land and play a central role in rebuilding it,” the letter emphasized.
“They must not be deprived of their agency during the reconstruction process but should lead it with support from the international community.”
Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has resulted in over 47,000 Palestinian deaths, according to the Gaza health ministry, sparking accusations of genocide and war crimes—charges that Israel denies. The conflict is currently in a fragile ceasefire.
The latest surge in violence in the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas militants launched an attack on Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking approximately 250 hostages, according to Israeli sources.
