{"id":237215,"date":"2025-02-12T11:57:05","date_gmt":"2025-02-12T11:57:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/12\/in-trumps-cross-hairs-over-taking-gazans-egypt-and-jordan-try-diversion\/"},"modified":"2025-02-12T11:57:05","modified_gmt":"2025-02-12T11:57:05","slug":"in-trumps-cross-hairs-over-taking-gazans-egypt-and-jordan-try-diversion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/12\/in-trumps-cross-hairs-over-taking-gazans-egypt-and-jordan-try-diversion\/","title":{"rendered":"In Trump\u2019s Cross Hairs Over Taking Gazans, Egypt and Jordan Try Diversion"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/12\/multimedia\/12trump-jordan-egypt-fkpz\/12trump-jordan-egypt-fkpz-facebookJumbo.jpg?ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"In Trump\u2019s Cross Hairs Over Taking Gazans, Egypt and Jordan Try Diversion\" title=\"In Trump\u2019s Cross Hairs Over Taking Gazans, Egypt and Jordan Try Diversion\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Finding themselves in the fickle cross hairs of President Trump, Jordan and Egypt are moving with speed \u2014 and uncertain prospects of success \u2014 to dissuade, distract and divert him from forcing them to take in Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For the two Arab governments, who view Mr. Trump\u2019s proposal that they take in two million Palestinians as an <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/05\/world\/middleeast\/egypt-jordan-gaza-trump.html\" title=\"\">existential threat<\/a>, the strategy appears to be to placate the U.S. president with offers to work together to rebuild Gaza, bring peace to the region and expand humanitarian aid efforts. That could help them buy time, analysts say \u2014 perhaps enough for Mr. Trump to discard the idea as too complicated, or to recognize the strategic and security drawbacks of destabilizing two of the closest allies of the United States in the region.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Jordan\u2019s King Abdullah employed a conciliatory tone in his meeting with Mr. Trump in the Oval Office on Tuesday, telling the U.S. president that his country would take in 2,000 Palestinian children with cancer and other illnesses from Gaza. Still, he otherwise gave no ground on the question of resettling more Gazans, and <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/11\/us\/politics\/trump-jordan-gaza.html\" title=\"\">later repeated<\/a> Jordan\u2019s rejection of the plan in a statement on social media.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Jordan has been treating some cancer patients from Gaza for months already, making the offer more of a token than a real concession. But Mr. Trump called it a \u201cbeautiful gesture.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Other world leaders have found that <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/07\/us\/politics\/foreign-leaders-flattery-trump.html\" title=\"\">flattering<\/a> Mr. Trump tends to help them get their way. King Abdullah seemed to be following their example on Tuesday, heaping praise on the president as \u201csomebody that can take us across the finish line to bring stability, peace and prosperity\u201d to the Middle East.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Even as the king pushed back against Mr. Trump in the post to make clear he was rejecting the mass displacement of Palestinians, he noted that the United States had a key role to play. \u201cAchieving just peace on the basis of the two-state solution is the way to ensure regional stability,\u201d he said in the post. \u201cThis requires U.S. leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Egypt, too, said it wanted to work with Mr. Trump to \u201cachieve a comprehensive and just peace in the region by reaching a just settlement of the Palestinian cause,\u201d according to an Egyptian <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/share\/p\/1BfGtUpTZL\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">statement<\/a> released later Tuesday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But the statement made no mention of participating in Mr. Trump\u2019s proposal, and reiterated Egypt\u2019s position that peace could be achieved only by giving the Palestinians statehood. Palestinians and many other Arabs have rejected Mr. Trump\u2019s proposed forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza not only as <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/05\/us\/politics\/trump-gaza-takeover-displacement-palestinians.html\" title=\"\">ethnic cleansing<\/a>, a war crime that flies in the face of <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/11\/world\/middleeast\/international-law-trump-gaza.html\" title=\"\">international law<\/a>, but also as the death knell for their long-held dream of a Palestinian state.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Egypt sought instead to serve up an alternative plan for Mr. Trump, saying in the statement that it would \u201cpresent a comprehensive vision for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip in a manner that ensures the Palestinian people remain in their homeland.\u201d The Palestinian Authority joined in with its own plan for helping Gaza recover from the war on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In recent days, as alarm over the president\u2019s idea has mounted in Cairo, Egyptian officials have emphasized that Egypt stands ready to help rebuild Gaza, with which it shares a vital border crossing, as it did after previous conflicts there.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">An Egyptian real estate tycoon, Hisham Talaat Moustafa, who like Mr. Trump has developed a chain of residential properties and hotels, went on an evening news show on Sunday to outline a $20 billion proposal for building 200,000 housing units in Gaza, as if trying to talk to Mr. Trump developer to developer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But Mr. Moustafa, who is closely linked to the Egyptian president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, said he envisioned reconstructing Gaza without moving any Palestinians out of the strip.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">During the Tuesday meeting, King Abdullah also alluded several times to the need for consultations with Egypt and other Arab countries before responding to Mr. Trump\u2019s proposal, mentioning an upcoming meeting in Riyadh with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia. Egypt has also called for a summit of Arab leaders to discuss the issue in Cairo on Feb. 27.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Despite the pushback from Egypt and Jordan, Mr. Trump seems to be sticking to the core of his out-of-left-field proposal for the United States to \u201cown\u201d Gaza and redevelop it into a \u201cRiviera\u201d for tourism and jobs. During the Tuesday meeting with King Abdullah and his son, Crown Prince Hussein, he said that \u201cwe will have Gaza\u201d and \u201cwe\u2019re going to take it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But he appeared to soften his previous threat to <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/10\/us\/politics\/trump-jordan-egypt-gaza-development.html\" title=\"\">cut funding<\/a> to Jordan and Egypt, two of the top recipients of U.S. aid, if they did not accept Gaza\u2019s Palestinians, saying, \u201cWe\u2019re above that.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-5\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Trump also suggested that he was looking at a broader group of countries that could receive Gazans. \u201cWe have other countries that want to get involved,\u201d he said, and when a journalist asked whether two of those countries could be Albania and Indonesia, he responded, \u201cYeah, sure.\u201d (The leaders of both countries have dismissed any such possibility.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Middle East experts say Mr. Trump appears to be ignoring previous U.S. calculations about the importance of stability in Egypt and Jordan, Arab neighbors of Israel who both made peace with Israel years ago and cooperate closely with the United States on security matters.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-6\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe way that he talks about these relationships, it is as if these countries are takers, and that we get very little out of them,\u201d said Brian Katulis, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute who focuses on Egypt, Israel, Jordan and the Palestinians.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In fact, many human rights advocates and critics of Egypt have questioned how wise the U.S. investment in Egypt is, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/mideastdc.org\/publication\/fact-sheet-what-does-an-annual-1-3-billion-in-military-assistance-to-egypt-buy-american-taxpayers\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">arguing<\/a> that it props up a repressive regime that often goes against U.S. interests. But analysts say the cooperation of Egypt and especially Jordan on regional security has been valuable to the United States.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Egypt, which receives $1.3 billion a year in U.S. military assistance to buy weapons, making it the second-largest recipient of such financing after Israel, has worked with the United States on counterterrorism efforts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Jordan has been the United States\u2019 gateway to the Middle East for decades, hosting a U.S. military base and a large Central Intelligence Agency station and acting as a diplomatic hub. Like Egypt, the Jordanian monarchy shares the U.S. view of militant Islam as a major threat and has supported the United States in its fight against Al Qaeda and then the Islamic State, among other common enemies.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">When Iran targeted Israel with missiles and drones last year, Jordan also helped to <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/04\/14\/world\/middleeast\/jordan-israel-iran-drones.html\" title=\"\">shoot some of them down<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-7\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Jordan has \u201cbeen with us lock step,\u201d Mr. Katulis said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Egypt and Jordan both accepted Palestinian refugees after they were displaced during the 1948 war surrounding the creation of the state of Israel, and Egypt has now taken in at least 100,000 Palestinian medical evacuees and other people who fled Gaza.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But analysts say both countries would rather risk losing U.S. aid than alienating their populations by appearing complicit in the ethnic cleansing of Gaza.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For Jordan, taking in large numbers of Palestinians forced out of Gaza is unacceptable because it could widen an existing rift between citizens who are of Palestinian descent and those who are not, destabilizing the monarchy, analysts say. More than half of King Abdullah\u2019s 12 million subjects are of Palestinian descent.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Jordan already hosts about 700,000 refugees, including Syrians and Iraqis as well as Palestinians. That largely impoverished population has all but overwhelmed the small country\u2019s limited resources.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Trump\u2019s proposal also inflames fears that Israel will next drive Palestinians out of the occupied West Bank into Jordan, a long-held ambition of far-right Israelis.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-8\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The secretary general of the Arab League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, alluded to such fears on Wednesday, saying, \u201cToday the focus is on Gaza and tomorrow it will shift to the West Bank, with the objective of emptying historic Palestine of its indigenous people, something that is unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Egypt also sees the possibility of Palestinians resettling in Egypt as a serious security threat. Forcibly displaced Palestinians could launch attacks on Israel from Egyptian soil, officials say, inviting Israeli military retaliation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\">Rania Khaled<!-- --> contributed reporting from Cairo.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/12\/world\/middleeast\/trump-gaza-egypt-jordan.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Finding themselves in the fickle cross hairs of President Trump, Jordan and Egypt are moving with speed \u2014 and uncertain prospects of success \u2014 to dissuade, distract and divert him from forcing them to take in Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. For the two Arab governments, who view Mr. Trump\u2019s proposal that they take in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":237216,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/12\/multimedia\/12trump-jordan-egypt-fkpz\/12trump-jordan-egypt-fkpz-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[166709,176434,4899,9141,163575,3747,164576,3451,166298,16783,176435,169089,8527,137131,166708,52,1734,163486],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237215"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=237215"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237215\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":237217,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237215\/revisions\/237217"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/237216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=237215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=237215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=237215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}