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President Trump said on Monday that he could cut aid to Jordan and Egypt if they refused his demand to permanently take in most Palestinians from Gaza, substantially increasing the pressure on key allies in the region to back his audacious proposal to relocate the entire population of the territory in order to redevelop it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they don\u2019t agree, I would conceivably withhold aid,\u201d Mr. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office a day ahead of a meeting with King Abdullah II of Jordan.<\/p>\n
Both Jordan and Egypt have rejected any suggestion that Palestinians be relocated to their countries.<\/p>\n
Mr. Trump doubled down on the idea of forced displacement of roughly two million Palestinians, a move that some scholars have said would amount to a war crime and ethnic cleansing. In an interview with Fox News broadcast on Monday, Mr. Trump said he did not envision Palestinians who left Gaza to make way for the redevelopment plan ever returning.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Asked in the interview whether the Palestinians would eventually \u201chave the right to return\u201d to Gaza after his proposed construction projects had been completed, the president said, \u201cNo, they wouldn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for where they might go, he said: \u201cI think I could make a deal with Jordan. I think I could make a deal with Egypt.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Trump\u2019s proposal has sent shock waves throughout the Middle East and is sure to dominate the meeting with the Jordanian leader during an especially volatile time in the region.<\/p>\n
The president said from the White House that if Hamas did not release all the remaining Israeli hostages by midday on Saturday, the cease-fire agreement with Israel should be canceled.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll hell is going to break out,\u201d Mr. Trump said, while acknowledging that the choice over ending the cease-fire ultimately fell to Israel.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Mr. Trump\u2019s remarks about the relocation plan turned up the pressure on King Abdullah, who would likely be engulfed in his own domestic crisis if Palestinians were forced into Jordan. More than half of Jordan\u2019s population is estimated to be Palestinian; the nation is already unsettled by tensions between citizens of Palestinian descent and those who are not, analysts say.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat Mr. Trump has done is put the future of the Kingdom of Jordan on the line,\u201d said Khalil Jahshan, the executive director of the Arab Center Washington D.C. \u201cThe strongest political movement in Jordan does not accept the idea that Jordan is Palestine.\u201d<\/p>\n
King Abdullah on Monday was expected to meet with Steven Witkoff, Mr. Trump\u2019s envoy to the Middle East, who made a rare trip to Gaza last month, becoming the most senior U.S. official to do so in many years.<\/p>\n
That the president is willing to apply pressure to key allies in the region also indicates that he has little intention of backing away from his fast-hardening ideas about U.S. ownership of the war-torn territory and the displacement of Palestinians.<\/p>\n
In the interview with Bret Baier of Fox News, Mr. Trump provided his most extensive comments on how he envisions moving the population of Gaza to Jordan, Egypt and other nations in the region.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll build safe communities a little bit away from where they are where all of this danger is,\u201d he said. \u201cIn the meantime, I would own this. Think of it as a real estate development for the future. It would be a beautiful piece of land.\u201d<\/p>\n
Once moved out, he said, Palestinians \u201cwould have much better housing\u201d than they have in Gaza and would not need to return.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m talking about building a permanent place for them,\u201d Mr. Trump said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n