Egypt rejects proposals to displace Palestinians

Palestinian Yazan El-Masry, who is in need to have an open-heart surgery, is accompanied by his mother at an ambulance at the Rafah border crossing in Egypt on Feb. 24, 2025. (AP)
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  • US President Donald Trump has infuriated the Arab world with a plan to permanently displace more than 2 million Palestinians from the Gaza Strip

CAIRO: Egypt rejects proposals to displace the Palestinian people in order to not “liquidate” the Palestinian cause and to avoid threatening the national security of countries in the region, the Egyptian presidency said in a statement on Tuesday.

US President Donald Trump has angered the Arab world with a plan to permanently displace the population of more than 2 million Palestinians from Gaza, assert US control over the territory and turn it into an international beach resort.

Egypt will on March 4 host an emergency Arab League summit set to focus on Arab efforts to counter Trump’s plan and calls for Egypt and Jordan to resettle displaced Palestinians from Gaza. Both countries reject the proposal, citing national security concerns.

Arab leaders held a meeting on Friday in Riyadh attended by Gulf states, Egypt and Jordan. Sources familiar with the discussions said they tackled a mainly Egyptian proposal that could include up to $20 billion in funding over three years from Gulf and Arab states, but there was no official confirmation.

Palestinians fear a repeat of the “Nakba,” or catastrophe, during which hundreds of thousands of other Palestinians were expelled or fled their homeland around the time of the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948.