Cairo, Egypt = Egypt, Jordan, Hamas and the Palestine Liberation Organization welcomed on Thursday remarks from US President Donald Trump in which he said “nobody’s expelling any Palestinians” from the Gaza Strip.
In a foreign ministry statement, it called Trump’s statement a “positive direction” that must be built on to advance efforts for peace.
Jordan welcomed “the remarks Wednesday by the American president”, and underlined “the importance of achieving a just and durable peace… in accordance with a two-state solution”, one Palestinian and one Israeli.
Israel’s government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejects Palestinian statehood.
Trump raised the idea of displacing the more than two million Palestinans from war-battered Gaza in early February during a visit by Netanyahu.
After Egypt and Jordan rejected the idea, Trump later that month said he was “not forcing” the plan.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem on Thursday applauded what he said was a “clear retreat” from the US proposal for Gaza.
“Trump’s statements regarding not expelling Gaza’s residents are welcome,” he told AFP.
US allies were also among the critics of Trump’s idea.
Arab states have since countered with a plan to rebuild the Gaza Strip under the future administration of the Palestinian Authority.
“We appreciate the statements of the US president in which he confirmed that the residents of the Gaza Strip are not required to leave their homeland,” Hussein al-Sheikh, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization, an umbrella group of factions that excludes Hamas, wrote on X.
The Egyptian-led reconstruction plan was put forward by the Arab League and adopted by the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, which calls itself the “collective voice of the Muslim world”.
Arab ministers, US Mideast envoy meet on Gaza reconstruction
Arab foreign ministers met in Qatar on Wednesday with US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff to discuss reconstruction for Gaza, devastated by war with Israel, the Gulf state said.
“The Arab foreign ministers discussed the Gaza reconstruction plan, which was approved during the Arab League Summit held in Cairo on March 4, 2025,” Qatar’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
Foreign ministers from Qatar, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Organisation were present at the meeting, according to the statement.
“They also agreed with the US envoy to continue consultations and coordination on the plan as a foundation for the reconstruction efforts,” it added.
On Saturday, the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) formally adopted a plan put forward by the Arab League at an emergency meeting in Saudi Arabia.
The Egyptian-spearheaded plan emerged as a proposal to rebuild the Gaza Strip under the future administration of the Palestinian Authority in response to a proposal by US President Donald Trump to take over Gaza and displace its residents.
The plan by Mulsim-majority nations has been rejected by both Israel and its key ally the United States, but has been endorsed by Britain, France, Germany and Italy.
A fresh round of talks on a fragile ceasefire in Gaza also began in Qatar on Tuesday, with Witkoff dispatched to Doha for the mediations.
“The ministers emphasised the importance of maintaining the ceasefire in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories, stressing the need to launch a genuine effort to achieve a just and comprehensive peace,” the Qatari statement added.
The 42-day first phase of the truce deal expired in early March without agreement on subsequent stages meant to secure a lasting end to the war, which erupted after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
Israel has also sent a team of negotiators to the Doha talks aimed at extending the ceasefire.
