CAIRO,
Feb 1 (Reuters) - Arab foreign ministers on Saturday rejected the
transfer of Palestinians from their land under any circumstances,
presenting a unified stance against U.S. President Donald Trump's call for Egypt and Jordan to take in residents of the Gaza Strip.
In
a joint statement following a meeting in Cairo, the foreign ministers
and officials from Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab
Emirates, the Palestinian Authority and the Arab League said such a move
would threaten stability in the region, spread conflict and undermine
prospects for peace.
"We
affirm our rejection of [any attempts] to compromise Palestinians'
unalienable rights, whether through settlement activities, or evictions
or annex of land or through vacating the land from its owners...in any
form or under any circumstances or justifications," the joint statement
read.
They
were looking forward to working with Trump's administration to achieve a
just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East based on a two-state
solution, they added.
The
meeting comes after Trump said last week that Egypt and Jordan should
take in Palestinians from Gaza, which he called a "demolition site"
following 15 months of Israeli bombardment that rendered most of its 2.3
million people homeless. Critics have called his suggestion tantamount
to ethnic cleansing.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Wednesday rejected the idea
that Egypt would facilitate the displacement of Gazans and said
Egyptians would take to the streets to express their disapproval.
However, on Thursday, Trump reiterated
the idea, saying: "We do a lot for them, and they are going to do it,"
in apparent reference to abundant U.S. aid, including military
assistance, to both Egypt and Jordan.
Any
suggestion that Palestinians leave Gaza, territory they want to form
part of an independent state, has been anathema to the Palestinian
leadership for generations and repeatedly rejected by neighbouring Arab
states since the Gaza war began in October 2023.
Jordan
is already home to several million Palestinians, while tens of
thousands live in Egypt. The foreign ministries of Egypt and Jordan have
both rejected Trump's suggestion in recent days.
The
Arab ministers also welcomed Egypt's plans to hold an international
conference with the United Nations that would be focused on rebuilding
Gaza, which has been mostly flattened during the 15 months war between
Israel and Hamas. No date has been set yet for the conference.
Reporting by Hatem Maher and Menna Alaa El-Din; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Angus MacSwan