US and Jordan walk tightrope over Gaza relocation proposal

The much-anticipated meeting between Jordan's King Abdullah II and US President Donald Trump in the White House on Tuesday could have led to a falling-out between the two close allies.

Instead, it turned out to be a bilateral tightrope walk.

"One of the things that we can do right away is take 2,000 children, cancer children who are in a very ill state. That is possible," Abdullah II told Trump in Washington.

"That is a really beautiful gesture," Trump answered.

Much to the relief of Jordan, which is heavily dependent on US aid, Trump also retreated from previous threats to halt or cut aid to Jordan, even though the Jordanian king remained steadfast in his refusal to take in Palestinians from Gaza. 

"We contribute a lot of money to Jordan and to Egypt, by the way, a lot to both, but I don't have to threaten that," Trump said, adding that "I do believe we're above that."

Last week, Trump proposed that the US would take over the Gaza Strip and rebuild it into a "Riviera of the Middle East."

As a first step to realizing this — for many, highly problematic — vision, he had urged Jordan, Egypt and other Arab states to take in the around 2 million Palestinians from Gaza.

Trump later confirmed that Palestinians were to be resettled permanently. 

Legal experts, however, see expelling Palestinians from Gaza as a violation of international law, while the United Nations has warned of "ethnic cleansing."

Jordan already hosting millions of Palestinians

"The Jordanian king's pledge to accept 2,000 sick Palestinian children from the Gaza Strip is a signal of his government's willingness to help and of its reliability as a security partner for the United States," Brian Katulis, senior fellow for US Foreign Policy at the Washington-based Middle East Institute, told DW.

This view is echoed by Erwin van Veen, senior research fellow at the Netherlands Institute of International Relations, or Clingendael Institute, in The Hague.

"King Abdullah is in an almost impossible situation, as he cannot accept more Palestinians going into Jordan for very historical and existential reasons," he told DW, adding: "But neither can he flatly refuse a US idea, however bad it is."

According to the UN, Jordan already hosts more than 2 million Palestinian refugees.

Observers furthermore assume that around half of the 11 million population in Jordan has Palestinian roots.

Taking in Palestinians is also widely considered as the end of a two-state-solution with an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel, which is Jordan's key demand.

In addition, it will set a precedent for forced displacement in the West Bank, van Veen warned. 

"In that sense, I think Trump is underestimating how existential that issue is for Jordan," van Veen told DW.

Hopes on Egypt's Arab summit

The Jordanian king also urged Trump to show more patience in light of the upcoming emergency Arab summit in Cairo on February 27. 

"Let's wait until the Egyptians can come and present it to the president and not get ahead of ourselves," Abdullah told Trump. 

Cairo's Foreign Ministry meanwhile stated "its intention to present a vision for Gaza reconstruction that ensures the Palestinian people remain in their homeland."

The statement further highlighted "aspirations to cooperate with the US administration […] to achieve a comprehensive and just peace in the region […] that upholds the rights of the region's peoples."

For Brian Katulis of the Middle East Institute, this step offers at least an outlook, if not hope.

"You basically have a group of countries that are willing to do quite a lot to bring the vision of a lasting, sustainable peace between Israel and the Palestinians, wrapped up in a framework of what Trump wants most, which is an Israel-Saudi normalization accord," he told DW.

During Trump's first term as US president, he successfully brokered diplomatic ties — dubbed Abraham Accords — between Israel and Sudan, Bahrain, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates.

However, as he didn't clinch the deal with Saudi Arabia before he was succeeded by US President Joe Biden, he is keen on completing this mission during his second term.

"The irony here is that his own actions are taking him further away from that dream that he has," Katulis said.

"The Saudis have made their position very clear, that the forced displacement of Palestinians from their land is a non-starter," Anna Jacobs, Gulf researcher and non-resident fellow at the Washington-based think tank Arab Gulf States Institute, told DW on Monday.

Gaza ceasefire in jeopardy?

The Jordanian visit to Washington also coincided with an increasingly fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which is categorized as terror organization by the US, EU, Israel and many other countries.

Earlier this week, Hamas had warned that the next releases of hostages captured in its October 7, 2023, attack will be delayed after the group accused Israel of delaying the delivery of humanitarian aid.

On Monday, Trump threatened that "all hell" would break out if Hamas fails to release all hostages by Saturday. 

On Tuesday, during the press conference with Abdullah II, Trump then added that "I don't think they're going to make the deadline, personally."

According to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, the war has killed around 48,000 people in the past 15 months, figures the UN considers reliable. Also, much of the infrastructure and many of the houses are destroyed.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also stated on X, formerly Twitter, that Israel is prepared to terminate the ceasefire agreement if Hamas does not return the remaining hostages by Saturday. 

At the time of writing, it remains unclear if Netanyahu referred to the three hostages who were agreed on in the ceasefire negotiations by the US, Egypt and Qatar, or all remaining 73 hostages including 35 the Israeli military says are dead. 

Palestinians desire to stay

Despite the fears over renewed fighting or displacement, many people in the Gaza Strip seem to have made up their mind already. 

"Even if we die here, even if we are buried under the rubble, leaving is not an option," Mohammed al Sawi, a 68-year-old mechanic from Gaza City, told DW.

The 42-year-old Ahmad Badwan from Gaza City is also determined to stay.

"This land is precious and dear, how could we leave that?" he asks, adding: "We are left to wonder when this land will have a future."

"In 20, 30 years? Maybe for the generations after us — but for us, I doubt it," he told DW. 

Edited by: Timothy Jones