Once again, I find myself compelled to probe the implications of President Trump’s proposal to relocate the population of Gaza to Egypt and Jordan forcibly.
This proposal comes following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington, where President Trump granted him virtually all his demands regarding Gaza and the Palestinian issue—without requiring a single concession in return.
Shocking, contradictory, ambiguous, and often reckless as they are, the US president’s statements about the deportation plan show unwavering support for the forced displacement of Gaza’s population, undeterred by Egypt, Jordan, and the Arab world’s outright rejection of the proposal.
The US administration has now shifted the burden onto Arab nations, urging them to propose alternatives to forced deportation. This stance deliberately absolves Israel, as the occupying power, of its responsibility for destroying Gaza. It also disregards the international community’s obligation to lead reconstruction efforts. The entire scheme appears to be part of a calculated strategy to drive the Palestinian population to despair to accept any imposed settlement, even if it collides with their legitimate rights.
President Trump has no right—legal, moral, or political—to forcibly remove the Palestinian people from their land, whether through coercion or under the guise of voluntary relocation. These are the rightful inhabitants of the land, which Israel seized in 1948, establishing its state over 78 percent of historic Palestine while leaving only 22 percent for a future Palestinian state—territory that Israel continues to covet and gradually annex. President Trump must recognize that by insisting on displacing Palestinians, he will fail to fulfil his campaign pledge to end wars in the Middle East. Instead, he will see new conflicts erupt that no amount of US intervention or envoys can contain.
What does Trump expect from the Palestinians after stripping them of their rights and dignity and after the world’s most powerful nation treats their homeland as a mere business venture—one that can be “developed” through demolition, forced relocation, or any other ruthless transactional logic? Gaza is not a real estate project to be flipped for profit; it is an integral part of the Palestinian state that will inevitably come into being, despite those who seek to erase it.
If the Trump administration is genuinely concerned with regional stability and with integrating Israel into the Arab normalization process, then it must recognize that it has embarked on a dangerously misguided course. This plan is only a more brutal version of the ill-fated January 2022 “Deal of the Century”. It would signify the complete liquidation of the Palestinian cause and render Palestinian statehood impossible. I urge the US administration to reconsider and explore alternative solutions grounded in the principle of “reconstruction without displacement.” This would spare Washington the Arab world’s fury —both at the governmental and popular levels. It would also prevent the US from jeopardizing its strategic alliances with key regional players, particularly Egypt and Saudi Arabia, over a proposal it already knows to be both unethical and politically unviable. The original “Deal of the Century,” which did not explicitly include forced deportation, was firmly rejected by Palestinians and Arabs alike. This latest iteration will inevitably meet the same fate.
If Trump’s deportation plan is a retribution against Arab states for rejecting his previous proposal, then he is compounding one grave mistake with an even greater one. How can the United States—the world’s most powerful nation—legitimize an Israeli scheme that, despite being on the table for over a quarter of a century, has failed to materialize due to firm Egyptian and Arab opposition? While American decision-making remains sovereign, in this instance, it has become glaringly subservient to Israeli dictates—a reality that will ultimately harm US interests in the long run.
To adopt a more pragmatic and constructive approach, I urge the US administration to take the following steps immediately:
- Withdraw the deportation proposal and refrain from imposing it on Arab states or shift the burden onto them. The Arab world’s rejection is unequivocal, and any expectation of a change in stance is nothing short of delusional.
- Pressure Israel to allow the maximum possible flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza daily. The people of Gaza are not seeking to flee; they demand the necessities for survival.
- Convene an urgent international conference on Gaza’s reconstruction led by the US. Any reconstruction efforts must be based on a structured, long-term plan that does not involve displacing the population outside the Strip. Temporary relocations should, at most, be limited to different areas within Gaza—not beyond, and certainly not into the West Bank.
- Refrain from endorsing any new Israeli initiatives to impose sovereignty over the West Bank to avoid a far more intense Palestinian uprising that would unfold beyond the reach of traditional diplomatic mediation.
- Commit to exploring viable solutions for the Palestinian issue that genuinely uphold the rights and interests of all parties involved.
Should Washington ignore these recommendations and persist in its current course, it will undermine its credibility in the region and be embroiled in crises that no amount of diplomatic maneuvering can contain. The choice before the US is clear: pursue a just and sustainable path to peace or accelerate the descent into chaos.
This article was originally published on Ahram Online on February 8, 2025.
