US President Donald Trump once again called for the complete ethnic cleansing of the Gaza Strip following a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on 4 February.

(Article republished from TheCradle.co)

“It could be Jordan, and it could be Egypt, and it could be other countries,” Trump said, adding that Palestinians in Gaza have “a guarantee they’re going to end up dying. The same thing is going to happen again, over and over again.”

“I think that Gaza is a demolition site right now … You can’t live in Gaza right now. I think we need another location, a location that’s going to make people happy,” the US President told reporters before saying that “it’s all death in Gaza.”

DOOCY: Would Palestinians have the right to return to Gaza if they left during the rebuilding?

TRUMP: It would be my hope that we could do something really nice, really good, where they wouldn’t want to return

(A reporter can be heard yelling, “It’s their home, sir!”) pic.twitter.com/NkYVY14Qe3

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 4, 2025

“I believe we can do it in areas where leaders currently say no,” he said, adding that funding for the forced displacement of over two million Palestinians will come from “other people, really rich nations, and they’re willing to supply it.”

Tuesday’s statements from the US president marked the fourth time he has called for the complete ethnic cleansing of Gaza and claimed that allies Egypt and Jordan would take in displaced Palestinians.

In response, Cairo and Amman have issued repeated rejections while making overtures to their ally. On Tuesday, Egyptian President and Jordanian King Abdullah II held a phone call to discuss the need to adopt a “united position” to maintain “regional peace.”

In response to Trump’s latest statements, Hamas leader leader Dr. Sami Abu Zuhri  called them “a recipe for creating chaos and tension in the region.”

“Our people in the Gaza Strip will not allow these plans to pass, and what is required is to end the occupation and aggression against our people, not to expel them from their land,” said Zuhri.

Palestinian UN representative Riyad Mansour replied to Trump’s demands by saying that instead of ethnically cleansing Palestinians, survivors of the US-Israeli genocide should be able to return to their family’s original homes “in what is today Israel.”

“For those who want to send the Palestinian people to a ‘nice place,’ allow them to go back to their original homes in what is now Israel,” said Mansour. “The Palestinian people want to rebuild Gaza because this is where we belong,” he added.

“For those who want to send the Palestinian people to a ‘nice place’, allow them to go back to their original homes in what is now Israel…the Palestinian people want to rebuild Gaza because this is where we belong.” pic.twitter.com/T8i7ZwDhLQ

— State of Palestine (@Palestine_UN) February 4, 2025

Trump’s meeting with Netanyahu came hours after Hamas announced that talks for the second phase of the ceasefire agreement sealed in December. Hundreds of Palestinian detainees and over a dozen Israeli captives have been released in four prisoner exchanges over the past few weeks.

“Everyone’s demanding one thing. You know what that is? Peace,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office before turning to Netanyahu and claiming the premier “wants peace also.” “We’re dealing with a very complex group of people, situation and people, but we have the right man. We have the right leader of Israel. He’s done a great job, and we’ve been friends for a long time.”

For his part, Netanyahu said he still plans on “meeting all our war goals.” “That includes destroying Hamas’s military and governing capabilities and making sure that Gaza never poses a threat to Israel,” he added.

Asked about whether Saudi Arabia is demanding the establishment of a Palestinian state to normalize ties with Israel, Trump replied with a definitive “no.”

Before he met with Netanyahu, the US president signed an executive order withdrawing the country from the UN Human Rights Council and from participating in UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.

Read more at: TheCradle.co