Palestinian president condemns 鈥榓ny projects鈥� to displace Gazans

Displaced Palestinians gather near a roadblock, as they wait to return to their homes in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025. (AP)
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  • Trump said on Saturday that he wanted Jordan and Egypt to take Palestinians from Gaza, suggesting 鈥渨e just clean out that whole thing鈥�

RAMALLAH: Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas condemned on Sunday 鈥渁ny projects鈥� to relocate the people of Gaza outside the territory, after US President Donald Trump suggested moving them to Egypt and Jordan.
Without naming the US leader, Abbas 鈥渆xpressed strong rejection and condemnation of any projects aimed at displacing our people from the Gaza Strip,鈥� a statement from his office said, adding that the Palestinian people 鈥渨ill not abandon their land and holy sites.鈥�
Trump, less than a week into his second term as president, said on Saturday that he wanted Jordan and Egypt to take Palestinians from Gaza, suggesting 鈥渨e just clean out that whole thing.鈥�
The idea was swiftly rejected by Jordan, while Egypt has previously spoken out against any suggestions that Gazans could be moved there.
In the statement issued by the Palestinian presidency, based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Abbas said: 鈥淲e will not allow the repetition of the catastrophes that befell our people in 1948 and 1967.鈥�
The former is known to Palestinians as the Nakba, or 鈥渃atastrophe,鈥� when hundreds of thousands were displaced during the war the coincided with Israel鈥檚 establishment.
The 1967 Arab-Israeli war, during which Israel conquered Gaza and the West Bank, is known as the Naksa, or 鈥渟etback,鈥� and saw several hundred thousand more displaced from those territories.
Abbas also rejected what he called 鈥渁ny policy that undermines the unity of the Palestinian land in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including east Jerusalem.鈥�
He called on Trump to 鈥渃ontinue his efforts to support鈥� the ceasefire in Gaza that began on January 19 and said the Palestinian Authority remained ready to take on the governance of the war-battered territory.