Ethnic cleansing feared as Trump asks Jordan, Egypt to take Gaza residentsTrump says relocation may be temporary or long-term as he also announces lifting of hold on 2,000-pound bombs for Israel.
United States President Donald Trump says he would like to “just clean out” Gaza, urging Egypt and Jordan to take in more Palestinians from the coastal enclave.
Speaking with reporters on board Air Force One on Saturday, Trump said he had a call earlier in the day with King Abdullah II of Jordan and would speak with Egypt President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi later on Sunday.
“I would like Egypt to take people,” Trump said. “You’re talking about probably a million and a half people, and we just clean out that whole thing and say: ‘You know, it’s over.'”
Trump said he complimented Jordan for having successfully accepted Palestinian refugees and that he told the king, “I would love for you to take on more, ‘cause I am looking at the whole Gaza Strip right now, and it’s a mess. It’s a real mess.”
Israel’s 15-month war on Gaza has displaced almost all of its 2.3 million residents, some of them multiple times. Trump said Gaza’s inhabitants could be moved “temporarily or could be long term”.
aljazeera.com
Israel may have killed as many as 700 to 800 thousand inhabitants of the Gaza Strip according to Trump's back-of-the-napkin estimate. |
