Five Arab nations write to Marco Rubio opposing plans to displace Gazans

The foreign ministers of five Arab countries and a senior Palestinian official have sent a joint letter to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio opposing plans to displace Palestinians from Gaza.

The letter, first reported by Axios and later confirmed by Reuters, was sent on Monday and signed by the foreign ministers of the UAE, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and Palestinian presidential adviser Hussein Al Sheikh.

“Reconstruction in Gaza should be through direct engagement with and participation of the people of Gaza. Palestinians will live in their land and help rebuild it,” the letter said.

“And they should not be stripped of their agency during reconstruction as they must take ownership of the process with the support of the international community.”

Delivery of the letter follows a meeting in Cairo at the weekend between the officials and Tim Lenderking, the former US special envoy to Yemen and current senior official in the bureau of Near Eastern affairs at the State Department, according to Egypt's State Information Service.

During the meeting, the officials delivered a verbal message to Mr Rubio highlighting the mutual desire to co-ordinate with the US on ensuring peace and stability in the region

US President Donald Trump first floated the suggestion of Jordan and Egypt taking in Palestinians from Gaza on January 25, less than a week into a ceasefire that has halted fighting between Israel and Hamas.

When asked if he was suggesting that as a long-term or short-term solution, he said: “Could be either.”

Jordan and Egypt rejected the idea, with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi calling it an “act of oppression”.

But Mr Trump persisted with the suggestion, saying last Thursday: “We do a lot for them and they are going to do it.”

His Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff has said rebuilding Gaza could take between 10 and 15 years, and that the territory is “uninhabitable”.

The US President's comments echo long-standing Palestinian fears of being permanently driven from their homes and were called a proposal of ethnic cleansing by critics.

The Israel-Gaza war has killed more than 47,400 Palestinians.

Israel's strikes and ground offensive followed a Hamas-led attack on Israel communities on October 7, 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 250 abducted.