CAIRO, March 13 — Egypt, Hamas and the Palestine Liberation Organization welcomed on Thursday remarks from US President Donald Trump after he said “nobody’s expelling any Palestinians” from the Gaza Strip.
It was not immediately clear whether Trump’s remarks signalled backtracking from his proposed plan to take over the Palestinian territory, displacing its population to neighbouring countries.
“Nobody’s expelling any Palestinians,” Trump said in the White House on Wednesday, dismissing a question from a reporter who asked whether plans to “expel Palestinians out of Gaza” were under discussion with visiting Irish Prime Minister Michael Martin.
Egypt, which with the United States and Qatar is mediating truce talks between Hamas and Israel, “expressed its appreciation for US President Donald Trump’s statements … regarding not demanding residents of the Gaza Strip to leave.”
In a foreign ministry statement, it called Trump’s statement a “positive direction” that must be built on to advance efforts for peace.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem in turn 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.
Trump’s proposal has been widely rejected, including by US allies, and countered with an Arab 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 PLO, a Palestinian umbrella group of factions that excludes Hamas, wrote on X.
The Egyptian-led plan was put forward by the Arab League and adopted by the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. — AFP
