Trump proposes moving Palestinians out of Gaza: 5 minutes to understand this “tipping point”

“Cleaning up” in Gaza. With his very personal rhetoric, Donald Trump proposed on Saturday to move the inhabitants of the Palestinian enclave to Egypt and Jordan. Where does this thinking come from? Is it feasible? Le Parisien takes stock.

Que propose Donald Trump ?

The Republican, from his presidential plane, proposed sending the inhabitants of Gaza to neighboring countries, Egypt and Jordan. “We’re talking about 1.5 million people, and we’re just cleaning up that,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One.

This move could be, according to him, “temporary or long-term”. “I would rather get involved with some Arab nations and build housing somewhere else where maybe they could live in peace for once,” he explained.

What reactions?

Unsurprisingly, the Republican’s words caused a reaction within the Israeli government. The far-right Minister of Finance, Bezalel Smotrich, welcomed an “excellent idea”, judging that the Palestinians “will be able to establish a new and beautiful life elsewhere”. Sunday evening, Benjamin Netanyahu did not react.

For its part, Islamic Jihad, another armed movement in Gaza, believes that the American president’s comments only encourage “war crimes and crimes against humanity”.

Where does this idea come from?

The scenario of a total (or partial) displacement of Gazans is a recurring demand from the Israeli extreme right, assures Vincent Lemire, professor of history at Gustave Eiffel University. “Last year, Israeli Minister Bezalel Smotrich even put an ideal target of 100,000 to 200,000 Palestinians remaining in Gaza.”

On the far right, the idea of ​​Palestinian uprooting in Gaza is often mentioned, under the term “second Nakba”, in reference to the mass exodus of Palestinians following the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. supporting this proposal, Donald Trump also uses the same “ambiguous” rhetoric used by defenders of the exodus, judges the historian. “This expulsion project is presented under humanitarian grounds. By leaving, Palestinians could flee their terrible living conditions in Gaza, start a new life… But make no mistake: massively expelling civilians contravenes international law, it is ethnic cleansing.”

Is this scenario feasible?

Despite its impact, such a population movement has “little chance” of being implemented. Firstly because neighboring countries are not in favor of it. Jordan already made it known on Sunday that it “firmly” rejected any “forced” exodus of Palestinians. “Jordan is for the Jordanians and Palestine is for the Palestinians,” insisted its Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ayman Safadi.

Similarly, in Egypt, “President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi had already refused any massive influx of refugees to his country, when Antony Blinken (former United States Secretary of State) had submitted the idea to him in 2023,” recalls Didier Billion, deputy director of Iris.

Finally, it is difficult to imagine that the Gazans themselves accept this scenario. “The Palestinians understood that if they left their land, they would not return. Previous exoduses have shown this: the refugee camps in Lebanon, after the Palestinian exiles of 1948 and 1967, became neighborhoods in their own right, with their own homes. When we leave a territory, we don’t come back,” insists Didier Billion.

If this plan remains a priori difficult to achieve, the Republican’s statements are not insignificant. They reveal the “symbiosis between the Israeli extreme right and the new Trumpian administration”, points out the researcher. In the end, these remarks above all offer a springboard for ideas hitherto confined to certain radical circles. “For a far-right activist to defend this plan is one thing. That it is now supported by the president of the leading world power is another,” summarizes Vincent Lemire, who sees it as “a tipping point”.