Jordan's rejection of any displacement of Palestinians is "firm and unwavering," Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said on Sunday (January 26). His comments appear to be a veiled response to U.S. President Donald Trump's suggestion that Egypt and Jordan should take more Palestinians from Gaza, Reuters reports.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Jordan and Egypt should take more Palestinians from war-ravaged Gaza, a suggestion rejected by Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that runs the enclave.
Asked if this was a temporary or long-term solution for Gaza, where Israel's military assault has caused a dire humanitarian situation and killed tens of thousands, Trump said "it could be either".
Senior Hamas official Mohammed Nazzal dismissed comments by U.S. President Donald Trump urging Jordan and Egypt to take Palestinians from Gaza which he described as "very strange".
Speaking on Sunday (January 26), Nazzal said Gazans would not move, adding "the Palestinian people who paid with their blood in exchange for their steadfastness on their land will not leave the Gaza Strip."
The proposal is likely to heighten fears among Gaza's 2.3 million Palestinians of being driven out of the coastal strip, and stoke concern in Arab states which have long been worried about the destabilizing impact any such exodus would have.
On Saturday Hamas freed four female Israeli soldiers in exchange for 200 Palestinian prisoners, as part of the second exchange.
Some prisoners were released in the West Bank, while others returned to a Gaza now in ruins after 15 months of war. Those considered the most dangerous by Israel were taken to Egypt before being exiled to a third country.
Around 70 were deported to Egypt, Palestinian officials said, and from there to another country, possibly Turkey, Qatar or Algeria.
Footage and photographs showed Nazzal and other Palestinian officials greeting the prisoners in Egypt.
Reuters was able to confirm the location from the interior design elements that that match file imagery of the site. Reuters was able to confirm the date through corroborating reports about the event.
Commenting on the prisoners in Egypt, Nazzal confirmed that “those who have been deported will mostly stay outside Palestine."
The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel's subsequent military assault on Gaza has killed more than 47,000 people, according to the Gaza health ministry, and led to accusations of genocide and war crimes that Israel denies.
A ceasefire went into effect a week ago and has led to the release of some Israeli hostages held by Hamas in exchange of Palestinians held by Israel.
