Senior Arab officials warn Trump's Gaza scheme could inflame West Asia

Senior Arab officials have warned that US President Donald Trump’s vicious scheme to take over the Gaza Strip and resettle Palestinians will fuel regional instability.

Addressing the World Government Summit in Dubai on Wednesday, Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit said if Trump pressed ahead with his plan, he would lead West Asia into a new cycle of crises with a “damaging effect on peace and stability.”

Jasem al-Budaiwi, who heads the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council political and economic alliance, called on Trump to remember the strong ties between the region and Washington.

“But there has to be give and take, he says his opinion and Arab world should say theirs; what he is saying won’t be accepted by the Arab world."

The Arab League and Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) have already condemned in the strongest terms Trump’s remarks on the “takeover” of Gaza.

Meanwhile, two Egyptian security sources said President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi will not travel to Washington for talks at the White House if the agenda includes Trump’s plan to displace the Palestinians from Gaza.

Sisi has repeatedly said Egypt would never participate in a large displacement of Palestinians across the border.

In a call between Trump and Sisi on February 1, the US president extended an open invitation to Sisi to visit the White House. No date has been set for any such visit, a US official said.

Trump enraged the Muslim world and beyond by declaring unexpectedly that the United States would take over Gaza and resettle its over two million population in neighboring countries.

Trump has said the Palestinians in Gaza could settle in countries like Jordan, and Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous state. Both have rejected the proposal.

Egypt will host an emergency Arab summit on February 27 to discuss “serious” developments for Palestinians.

Trump’s plan has upended decades of US policy that endorsed a two-state solution.

The US president has said the Palestinians would have no right to return.

Palestinians fear a repeat of the “Nakba,” or catastrophe, when nearly 800,000 people were forced out of their homeland during the 1948 war that led to the illegal creation of Israel.

Arab League, OIC condemn Trump’s Gaza ‘takeover’ scheme

The Arab League and Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) have condemned in the strongest terms US President Donald Trump’s remarks on the “takeover” of Gaza.

On Tuesday, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed the ceasefire in Gaza would end and the military would resume fighting Hamas until it was defeated if the Palestinian resistance group did not release captives by midday February 15.

Hamas later issued a statement renewing its commitment to the ceasefire and accusing Israel of jeopardizing it.

Hamas has gradually been releasing captives since the first phase of a ceasefire began on January 19. But Hamas said on Monday it would not free any more captives over accusations that Israel was violating the deal.

“If the situation explodes militarily once more, all this (ceasefire) effort will be wasted,” Aboul Gheit said.

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