Jordan’s King Abdullah II said Tuesday that he would take in 2,000 Palestinian children from Gaza who are very sick or have cancer, signaling new openness to a plan by President Donald Trump to resettle the residents of the war-torn strip. Trump called the offer a “beautiful gesture” and said he believed “99%” that something could be worked out with Egypt, another regional partner that had bristled at the president's surprise plan. "We'll have some others helping," Trump added. Seated with Trump in the Oval Office, Abdullah said they must ensure a plan that satisfies all parties, a not insignificant obstacle as questions remain about how each country might move to relocate a swell of people who have suffered months of devastation, and which some fear will further undermine efforts to create a Palestinian state.
Donald Trump on Tuesday restated his plan for the U.S. to take over Gaza and permanently resettle its residents, as he met Jordan's King Abdullah amid widespread opposition to his plan among Washington's Arab allies, including Jordan. Shortly after the king and his son arrived at the White House, reporters were ushered into the Oval Office where the U.S. president signaled he would not budge on his plan for the U.S. to take over Gaza, move its shell-shocked residents and transform the war-ravaged territory. "We're going to take it. We're going to hold it, we're going to cherish it. We're going to get it going eventually, where a lot of jobs are going to be created for the people in the Middle East," Trump said of Gaza, saying his plan would "bring peace" to the region. Trump has said he would consider withholding aid from Jordan if it refuses to resettle Palestinians. King Abdullah has previously said he rejects any moves to annex land and displace Palestinians.
Jordanian King Abdullah II told President Trump Tuesday that his nation will take in 2,000 sick children from the Gaza Strip — as Trump insisted that Amman take in many more of the roughly 2 million Palestinians in the enclave to allow the US to claim the territory free of charge. “One of the things that we can do right away is take 2,000 children that are either cancer children or in a very ill state to Jordan as quickly as possible,” the king said in the Oval Office — one week after Trump shockingly said the US would take over Gaza and convert it into the “Riviera of the Middle East.” Abdullah’s government previously rejected Trump’s plan to deport Gazans to his country and to Egypt, and the monarch said Tuesday that after taking in the children he would “then wait for, I think, the Egyptians to present their plan on how we can work with the president.” Cairo also has rejected Trump’s plan to empty Gaza’s population — with Trump saying many Palestinians wouldn’t want to ever return to their homeland — but the president has continued to demand that Israel’s Arab neighbors relent and go along with the plan.
