Ahmed Aboul Gheit, the secretary-general of the Arab League, on Wednesday rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to resettle Gazans, claiming that Palestinians in Judea and Samaria would also eventually be moved.
“The focus today is on Gaza and tomorrow it will shift to the West Bank with the objective of emptying Palestine of its historical inhabitants,” Aboul Gheit said at the World Governments Summit in Dubai.
“It’s unacceptable for the Arab world, which has fought this idea for 100 years,” he added.
“After resisting this for 100 years, we Arabs are not about to capitulate in any way now because we have not suffered a political, military or cultural defeat,” Aboul Gheit continued.
Trump hosted Jordanian King Abdullah II at the White House on Tuesday, in an attempt to persuade regional leaders to accept his plan to relocate Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip.
Abdullah announced a proposal for the kingdom to accept 2,000 children in Gaza grappling with cancer and other severe illnesses for treatment but did not express agreement with Trump’s plan for the United States to “own” the enclave and relocate its population to other countries.
The king said he and other Arab leaders would meet in Saudi Arabia soon to discuss an Egyptian counter-proposal to the Trump resettlement and redevelopment idea.
“We will be in Saudi Arabia to discuss how we can work with the president and with the United States,” Abdullah said. “Let’s wait until the Egyptians can come and present it to the president and not get ahead of ourselves.”
Trump said he and Abdullah would have a longer, private discussion about the plan to “own” and rebuild Gaza, which according to the U.S. president would include the resettlement of some two million Palestinians living in the coastal enclave to Egypt, Jordan or other regional countries.
“I believe we’ll have a parcel of land in Jordan,” Trump said. “I believe we’ll have a parcel of land in Egypt. We may have someplace else, but I think when we finish our talks, we’ll have a place where they’re going to live very happily and very safely.”