Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said Tuesday that an Egyptian-led plan aims to rebuild Gaza without displacing its residents, as U.S. President Donald Trump continues to insist on his provocative plans to annex the blockaded Palestinian enclave.
Safadi was speaking to the state-owned al-Mamlaka TV shortly after Jordanian King Abdullah met Trump in Washington as the latter pressed for his plan to take over the Gaza Strip and resettle its population to neighboring Egypt and Jordan.
Despite global outrage, Trump continued to insist that he would implement his widely panned proposal to take ownership of Gaza, saying "We’re going to run it very properly."
"We’re going to take it, we’re going to hold it, we’re going to cherish it," Trump said of the coastal enclave. "We'll have lots of good things built there, including hotels and office buildings and housing and other things, and we'll make that site into what it should be."
Trump at one point appeared to prompt King Abdullah to say he would take in Palestinians from Gaza. The king said he would do what is best for his country, but said Jordan would take in 2,000 sick children from Gaza for treatment, an offer that Trump praised.
Arab nations would come to Washington with a counterproposal, he said.
"The point is how to make this work in a way that is good for everybody," he said, appearing uncomfortable, without explicitly supporting or opposing Trump's plan.
Sandwiched between Saudi Arabia, Syria, Israel and the occupied West Bank, Jordan is already home to more than 2 million Palestinian refugees in its population of 11 million, their status and number long providing a source of anxiety for the country's leadership. Amman is also reeling from Trump's 90-day aid pause. Israel and Egypt have been granted waivers, but the $1.45 billion Jordan gets each year remains frozen pending a Trump administration review of all foreign aid.
