A controversial idea floated by newly inaugurated U.S. President Donald Trump to move Palestinians from Gaza to Egypt or Jordan faced a renewed backlash Tuesday as hundreds of thousands of Gazans displaced by 15-month-long war returned to their devastated neighbourhoods.
A fragile cease-fire and hostage release deal took effect earlier this month, intended to end more than 15 months of destructive war, which left entirety of Gaza shattered.
After the cease-fire came into force, Trump touted a plan to "clean out" the Gaza Strip, reiterating the idea on Monday as he called for Palestinians to move to "safer" locations such as Egypt or Jordan.
The U.S. president, who has repeatedly claimed credit for sealing the truce deal after months of fruitless negotiations, also said he would meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington "very soon."
Jordan on Tuesday renewed its rejection of Trump's proposal, while Qatar said that the two-state solution is the "only path forward."
"We emphasize that Jordan's national security dictates that the Palestinians must remain on their land and that the Palestinian people must not be subjected to any kind of forced displacement whatsoever," Jordanian government spokesperson Mohammad Momani said.
Qatar, which played a leading role in the truce mediation, on Tuesday said that it often did not see "eye to eye" with its allies, including the United States.
"Our position has always been clear to the necessity of the Palestinian people receiving their rights, and that the two-state solution is the only path forward," Qatar's foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said.
Following reports that Trump had spoken with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi at the weekend, Cairo said there had been no such phone call.
"A senior official source denied what some media outlets reported about a phone call between the Egyptian and American presidents," Egypt's state information service said.
On Monday, Trump reportedly said the pair had spoken, saying: "I wish he would take some (Palestinians)."
After Trump first floated the idea, Egypt rejected the forced displacement of Gazans, expressing its "continued support for the steadfastness of the Palestinian people on their land."
France, another U.S. ally, on Tuesday said any forced displacement of Gazans would be "unacceptable."
It would also be a "destabilization factor (for) our close allies Egypt and Jordan," a French foreign ministry spokesperson said.
Moving Gaza's 2.4 million people could be done "temporarily or could be long term," Trump said on Saturday.
Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said he was working with the prime minister "to prepare an operational plan to ensure that President Trump's vision is realized."
Smotrich, who opposed the cease-fire deal, did not provide any details on the purported plan.
For Palestinians, any attempts to force them from Gaza would evoke dark memories of what the Arab world calls the "Nakba," or catastrophe – the mass displacement of Palestinians during Israel's creation in 1948.
"We say to Trump and the whole world: we will not leave Palestine or Gaza, no matter what happens," said displaced Gazan Rashad al-Naji.
Almost all of Gaza's people have been displaced, often multiple times, by Israel's genocidal Gaza war, triggered by the Hamas incursion of southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
The cease-fire hinges on the release during a first phase of 33 Israeli hostages held in Gaza in exchange for around 1,900 Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
On Monday, after Hamas and Israel agreed over the release of six hostages this week, more than 300,000 displaced Gazans were able to return to the north, according to the Hamas government media office.
"I'm happy to be back at my home," said Saif Al-Din Qazaat, who returned to northern Gaza but had to sleep in a tent next to the ruins of his destroyed house.
"I kept a fire burning all night near the kids to keep them warm... (they) slept peacefully despite the cold, but we don't have enough blankets," the 41-year-old told Agence France Presse (AFP).
Hamas's Oct. 7 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,210 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Israel's relentless attacks, have on the other hand, killed at least 47,317 people in Gaza, according to local health authorities, while this figure is feared to be even higher.
"In terms of the death toll, yes, we do have confidence. But let's not forget, the official death toll given by the Ministry of Health, is deaths accounted in morgues and in hospitals, so in official facilities," World Health Organization (WHO) spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said Tuesday.
"As people go back to their houses, as they will start looking for their loved ones under the rubble, this casualty figure is expected to increase," he added.
