Hamas denounces Trump’s idea to move Palestinians out of Gaza

(Gaza) Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad strongly criticized on Sunday US President Donald Trump’s proposal to move Gazans to Egypt and Jordan to “clean up”, according to him, in the Gaza Strip, where A fragile truce enters its second week.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not yet reacted to the American proposal, but Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right minister, called it an “excellent idea,” saying the Palestinians could “establish a new and good life elsewhere.”

After more than 15 months of war in Gaza, a ceasefire began on January 19, but Israel and Hamas accused each other on Sunday of having violated the terms of the agreement, the day after the exchange of four Israeli soldiers by the Islamist movement against around 200 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

In this context, Donald Trump on Saturday evening compared the Gaza Strip devastated by war and plunged into a serious humanitarian crisis to a “demolition site” and said he had spoken to King Abdullah II of Jordan about the situation, adding that he was going to do the same on Sunday with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi.

According to him, a “cleaning” should be done among the population.

“I would prefer to get involved with some Arab nations and build housing somewhere else where maybe they could live in peace for once,” the president added, suggesting a “temporary or long-term” move.

Meanwhile in the Palestinian territory, “tens of thousands” of people were prevented by Israel from returning to the north via the Netzarim crossing, which cuts the Gaza Strip in two, Civil Defense told AFP. Images shot by AFP show a dense crowd approaching this corridor.

“We want to find our memories and the people who are dear to us,” Djihad Abou Miri told AFP, who said he had been waiting for 48 hours.

“Crimes against humanity”

Palestinians will ‘derail’ Mr. Trump’s proposal ‘like they have derailed all displacement plans’ […] for decades,” responded Bassem Naïm, member of the Hamas political bureau, on Sunday.

Islamic Jihad, another armed movement in Gaza, for its part considered that its comments encouraged “war crimes and crimes against humanity” in Gaza, where the vast majority of the 2.4 million inhabitants were displaced by war, often several times.

Donald Trump also confirmed having released a delivery of bombs weighing more than 900 kilograms for his ally, a decision welcomed by Israel.

The new American president had exerted intense pressure on both camps to conclude a ceasefire agreement before his inauguration on January 20.

As part of this agreement, a first exchange of three Israeli hostages for 90 Palestinian prisoners took place last Sunday, the first day of the truce.

The first phase of the ceasefire agreement should last six weeks and allow the release of a total of 33 hostages against some 1,900 Palestinian prisoners.

During this first phase, the modalities of the second must be negotiated, which should allow the release of the last hostages, before the last stage relating to the reconstruction of Gaza and the restitution of the bodies of the hostages who died in captivity.

The war was sparked by the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the death of 1,210 people on the Israeli side, the majority civilians, according to an AFP count based on official data.

A total of 251 people were kidnapped that day. Eighty-seven are still held hostage, 34 of whom are dead according to the army.

The retaliatory offensive launched by Israel in the besieged Gaza Strip has left at least 47,283 dead, mostly civilians, according to data from the Hamas Health Ministry.

Four dead in Lebanon

On Saturday, a last-minute dispute blocked the start of the return to the north of the Palestinian territory of hundreds of thousands of displaced residents as planned by the truce agreement.

Israel justified its refusal to let them pass on Sunday by accusing Hamas of two violations of the agreement.

Arbel Yehuda, a civilian woman whose release Israel demanded on Saturday, “has not been released” and “the status list” of the hostages – dead or alive – “has not been submitted” by the Palestinian movement.

Hamas, which told AFP on Saturday that the hostage would be “released during the third exchange” scheduled for 1^is February, for his part accused Israel on Sunday of “violating” the agreement by preventing the return of residents of northern Gaza.

In Lebanon, where a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah came into force on November 27, the Ministry of Health reported eleven deaths, including a soldier, killed on Sunday by Israeli fire, while Hundreds of residents were trying to return to villages near the borders still occupied by Israel.

Under the agreement, the Israeli army was to complete its withdrawal from southern Lebanon on Sunday, but Israel announced Friday that the operation would continue beyond the January 26 deadline.