Trump Accused of 'Ethnic Cleansing' Over Call for Palestinians to Quit Gaza

President's plan to 'clean out' strip triggers alarm among Middle East allies

- Emma Graham-Harrison

Donald Trump has proposed that large numbers of Palestinians leave Gaza to "just clean out" the whole strip in a suggestion rejected by US allies in the region and attacked as dangerous, illegal and unworkable by lawyers and activists.

Trump said he would like hundreds of thousands of people to move to neighboring countries either "temporarily or could be long-term". Destinations could include Jordan, which hosts over 2.7 million Palestinian refugees, and Egypt, he added.

"I'd rather get involved with some of the Arab nations and build housing at a different location where they can maybe live in peace for a change," Trump told reporters on Air Force One. "You're talking about probably a million and a half people, and we just clean out that whole thing and say: 'You know, it's over.' Gaza's pre-war population was 2.3 million.

Jordan and Egypt have both made clear they will not take refugees from Gaza. Yesterday Jordan's foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, said the country's rejection of any displacement of Palestinians was "firm and unwavering".

Inside Gaza there is little sign that people who have endured more than 15 months of fighting want to leave permanently in large numbers if the ceasefire holds.

Yesterday thousands of people surged to Israeli military checkpoints, hoping to return to their homes in the north under the terms of a temporary ceasefire deal. Israel refused to let them pass, accusing Hamas of violating terms of the agreement.

"To 'clean' Gaza immediately after the war would in fact be a continuation of the war, through the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people," said Hassan Jabareen, director of the Palestinian rights group Adalah.