Ahmed Asmar
28 January 2025•Update: 28 January 2025
ANKARA
An Egyptian source denied Tuesday media reports about a phone call between the Egyptian and US presidents over the resettlement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.
On Monday, US President Donald Trump reiterated his suggestion of moving Palestinians out of Gaza, saying he spoke with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi over the issue.
A high-level Egyptian source, however, denied any phone call between the two leaders.
"Any phone call by the president is announced according to procedure followed with heads of state," the state-affiliated Al-Qahera News channel said, citing the source.
The source urged media outlets "to exercise utmost accuracy" regarding communications at this level “during this critical time that the Middle East region is going through” and given “the distinguished relations between the presidents of the two countries."
On Saturday, Trump called to “clean out” Gaza and resettle Palestinians in Jordan and Egypt.
Amman and Cairo, however, vehemently rejected any call for the displacement or relocation of Palestinians from their land.
On Monday, Trump told reporters that he had spoken to the Egyptian president about the matter.
"When you look at the Gaza Strip, it’s been hell for so many years. … There have been various civilizations on that strip. It didn’t start here. It started thousands of years before, and there’s always been violence associated with it. You could get people living in areas that are a lot safer and maybe a lot better and maybe a lot more comfortable," he said.
The US president said he will also discuss the issue with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is expected to visit the US "very soon."
Trump's proposal came a week after a ceasefire agreement took effect in Gaza on Jan. 19, suspending Israel’s genocidal war that has killed more than 47,300 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and injured more than 111,000 since Oct. 7, 2023.
The Israeli onslaught has left more than 11,000 people missing, with widespread destruction and a humanitarian crisis that has claimed the lives of many elderly people and children in one of the worst global humanitarian disasters ever.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November last year for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
