Trump Urges Egypt and Jordan to Accept Gaza’s Palestinians, But Here’s Why It’s a Nonstarter

When it comes to Middle Eastern diplomacy, every suggestion is like a pebble tossed into a lake—ripples ensue that no one can control. Over the weekend, President Donald Trump fired off one of his trademark verbal grenades, proposing that Egypt and Jordan consider giving sanctuary to Palestinians displaced by the relentless cycle of conflict in Gaza. As expected, Arab nations rolled their eyes and replied with a resolute “Not happening,” throwing the idea out with both hands.

Trump casually pitched this bullish notion on Saturday, suggesting he might urge leaders of these neighboring Arab nations to open their doors to Gaza’s essentially roofless populace, aiming to “sort out the mess once and for all.” Whether this housing detour for Gaza’s 2.3 million was envisioned as temporary or permeant was anyone’s guess.

“I mean, it looks like someone ran it through an industrial shredder,” Trump quipped about Gaza’s current state, which resembles a construction zone more than a strip of land once teeming with life, attributing the wreckage to a fierce 15-month altercation between Israel and Hamas. Good grief, get the dustpan and broom—so he conjectured.

In the face of this, he added, “I’d rather engage the Arab world, construct some new digs where serenity could get a fighting chance for once,” with flair that matched his on-again, off-again relationship with geopolitical reality.

Predictably, the backlash was swift. The Western-aligned Palestinian Authority and Hamas, that well-known odd couple, both gave the thumbs down. Jordanese Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, unmistakably peeved, shared with reporters that his nation’s rebuttal of relocating Palestinians was “as firm as old chewing gum” and unchanging.

Egypt’s foreign ministry echoed similar sentiments, dropping a statement that the suggested relocation could “spice up the region’s disharmony menu” and sabotage the recipes for peace and coexistence. Ouch.

Radio silence from Israel. Although, it’s no secret Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing parties have been drumming up this very idea—calling it “voluntary migration” of Palestinians alongside a redux of Jewish settlements in Gaza. In concert, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich labeled Trump’s proposition a “cracking idea.” Someone’s getting brownie points.

Of course, critics wasted no time labeling these moves as ethnic cleansing, which the UN frowns upon in no uncertain terms. Omar Shakir, representing Human Rights Watch for Israel and Palestine, issued a stark warning—Trump’s idea, if ever taken up, could be a marker of something akin to ethnic cleansing that would multiply the sorrow of Palestinian “in spades.”

A Tale as Old as Time

Let’s rewind a bit—a walk down the cobbled streets of history. The year 1948 remains etched in Palestinian memory as the Nakba or “the catastrophe.” Amidst the pandemonium of Israel’s birthing pains, approximately 700,000 Palestinians—two-thirds of the original population—took flight or found themselves uprooted. They marked a different path while Israel slammed the door on their return, mindful that a return would reshuffle demographics in favor of a Palestinian majority.

The cascade of refugees and their offspring add up to around 6 million souls today, with significant clusters in Gaza—the tableau of their current misery—mirroring populations in the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. Add to that a similar wave of Palestinians during the 1967 clashes, dashing to Jordan yet again, and you’ve got a timeless saga of displacement.

This refugee scene is the bogeyman haunting Israel-Palestinian diplomacy and has often managed to send peace talks into a nosedive—the latest plunge was in 2009. While Palestinians invoke their ancestral right of return, Israel holds the position that Arab neighbors should be suckling their displaced kin.

To many Palestinians, the latest Gaza bombardment, reducing blocks to bedlam, evokes a fresh Nakba. The fear? Leave now, return nevermore. To stand one’s ground is culturally anchored for Palestinians, as demonstrated vividly when crowds ventured back into Gaza’s most devastated stretches, yearning for homes deep in rubble.

Not in My Backyard

Jordan and Egypt, who’ve inked peace sketches with Israel but champion a future Palestinian oasis in the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem, have let the matter rest. The notion of absorbing Gaza’s humanity doesn’t flatter them. Prolonged dislocation might render that pipe dream unreachable.

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi raised an alarm over the Pandora’s box that could unfurl if masses entered Egypt’s Sinai. Addressing the scenario in blunt terms, he remarked it could “mess up their mojo,” implicating security risks as surrounding groups might showcase their agenda right in his backyard—wars, once fought beyond Egypt’s picket fence, could breach his borders with dire consequences.

Let the record show, Yasser Arafat’s maneuvering of the PLO turned Lebanon into a staging ground, ushering a civil war and drawing Israel twice into its depths. Jordan, similarly tangled with the PLO in 1970 and eventually ousted them, already hosts a bumper crop of refugees—more than it can possibly sow harmony with.

Some ultranationalist quarters in Israel cheekily propose a Palestinian state within Jordan’s borders, retaining the West Bank, deemed biblically sacrosanct. Unsurprisingly, Jordan’s royals sternly reject this plot twist.

Trump’s Gamble

Could Trump arm-twist Egypt and Jordan into hosting more feet on their patches of earth? Maybe, if his conviction burned hot enough. But, to tango with such a gambit would have tidal implications. Trump could employ tariffs like a crooked poker player, or use sanctions—the latter being the heartburn-inducing variety. After all, who wants to upset the apple cart when local economies are already in need of a gentle pat rather than a heavy hand?

Reports indicate that the broader dance with refugee pressures is already bursting at the seams. Jordan, dealing deftly with its dimensions, calls upon its grace to manage more than 700,000 refugees. Egypt, no stranger to a crushed economy, is also teetering with some 9 million foreign souls under its aegis.

Pile on U.S. diplomatic leverage, and relations with cherry-picked regional alliances could curdle. Trump’s rapport with figures such as el-Sisi, King Abdullah II, and others, including big players like Saudi Arabia and Turkey—all waving flags of Palestinian support—could tumble like a house of cards.

Not to mention, such wranglings could speckle Trump’s broader wishlist of brokering Middle Eastern normalization deals. A square peg in a round hole for bargains he harbored once, and clearly eyes again. Would his cards be played wisely? Only time will tell.— Report by Axadle.