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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.
The president also said from the White House that if Hamas did not release all the remaining Israeli hostages by “12 o’clock on Saturday,” the cease-fire agreement with Israel should be canceled.
Jordan and Egypt, both major recipients of U.S. military and economic aid, have rejected any suggestion that Palestinians be relocated to their countries. But Mr. Trump said on Monday that the assistance could be in jeopardy.
“If they don’t agree, I would conceivably withhold aid,” he told reporters in response to a question a day before a meeting with King Abdullah II of Jordan.
Mr. Trump expanded 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.
Asked in the interview whether the Palestinians would eventually “have the right to return” to Gaza after his proposed construction projects had been completed, the president said, “No, they wouldn’t.”
As for where they might go, he said: “I think I could make a deal with Jordan. I think I could make a deal with Egypt.”
Mr. Trump’s 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.
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