-Analysis-
PARIS – The U.S. president made a surprising proposal over the weekend to relocate the more than two million Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to neighboring Arab countries, specifically Egypt and Jordan. He reportedly even discussed the idea with the two leaders involved — Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and Jordan’s King Abdullah — over the weekend.
Quite logically, the proposal was immediately applauded by two far-right leaders in Israel: Economy Minister Bezalel Smotrich and former Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who recently resigned in protest over the Gaza ceasefire agreement. Not only do they support the idea, but they also emphasized that they’ve been advocating for the expulsion of Palestinians for a long time.
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That, of course, is no surprise coming from Israel’s far-right, which openly favors the re-colonization of Gaza and the annexation of the West Bank. Yet it is far more astonishing, not to say shocking, when it issues from the president of the most powerful country in the world.
Forced transfer, quite simply, is a war crime – nothing less than ethnic cleansing and is legally, politically and morally indefensible.
Nakba revisited?
The American president had recently managed to record a diplomatic coup when the cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas resulted in the first releases of hostages in more than a year. That of course now means that he has become deeply embroiled in the continuation of a convoluted process that reached its first setback over the weekend as both sides accused each other of violating the terms of the cease-fire.
Where does this idea of forcing people out of Gaza, sure to inflame Palestinians and Arabs, even come from? It’s being framed as common sense: Gaza is in ruins, so let’s build them homes elsewhere, and they’ll live in peace. This kind of reasoning is often heard from Israel’s far-right circles — and now, apparently, within the inner circle of the new U.S. president.
Trump’s proposal is all the more shocking to Palestinians as it revives a deep historical trauma: the Nakba, or “catastrophe” in Arabic. This refers to the 1948 exodus of Palestinians who fled the war or were expelled by the military of the newly established State of Israel — an event extensively documented by Israeli historians such as Ilan Pappé, Benny Morris, and Tom Segev.
Today, two-thirds of Gaza’s 2.4 million Palestinians are descendants of those 1948 refugees, fully aware of the painful reality of forced displacement
Egypt and Jordan
Trump’s proposal could also undermine hostage exchange talks. If the aftermath of the war represents forced exodus and not a political solution, it simply wouldn’t encourage parties to adhere to an agreement whose second phase is yet to be negotiated.
Forcing Palestinians out is also unacceptable to Egypt and Jordan, which do not want to bear the burden of refugees that could destabilize their countries. In fact, there is not a single Arab leader who could support the expulsion of Palestinians from their land, not even Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, whom Trump wants to see join the Abraham Accords with Israel. The prince will not take that risk.
If we want to be kind, we could just say that the American president was fed an idea of little credibility and with no future that will be lost in the tide of his multiple initiatives. But if he really means it and puts it into practice, it is another omen of the new world coming, based on pure power. Europe, if it can be heard, needs to make it clear that this will be resisted.
