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Faisal Aranki, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee, told Newswee
Faisal Aranki
Palestinian Official Responds to Trump’s Gaza Population Transfer Proposal
A senior Palestinian official shared with Newsweek his reaction to U.S. President Donald Trump’s suggestion of relocating the entire population of the Gaza Strip in order to pursue real estate development in the war-torn territory.
Trump first publicly floated the proposal last week, telling reporters that “we can just clean out” Gaza by transferring its population, estimated to be between 1.5 million and more than 2 million people, to neighboring Egypt and Jordan. Despite backlash from the two countries and elsewhere across the Arab world, the U.S. leader doubled down on the proposal in recent days and insisted that Cairo and Amman “will do it.”
Faisal Aranki, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee, told Newsweek that the proposal “is controversial and raises many humanitarian and political issues.”
“On the one hand, some see it as an immoral step that exposes Palestinians to additional suffering, especially since the forced displacement of people is a violation of human rights and leads to further escalation and conflict,” Aranki said.
“On the other hand, some may see it as part of an attempt to find a long-term solution to the Palestinian issue,” he continued, “but there are always concerns that such solutions marginalize the basic rights of Palestinians to return and live in dignity on their land.”
He argued that “ultimately, any proposal related to the Palestinian issue must take into account human rights and justice, rather than focusing on short-term solutions that may exacerbate the situation in the region.
