Arab leaders deliver ‘a big no’ to Trump’s Gaza plan: Former Egyptian diplomat
US President Donald Trump’s plan to forcibly remove Palestinians from the Gaza Strip is unlawful and will continue to be rejected by the Arab states, the former Egyptian deputy foreign affairs minister to the European Union says.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Gamal Bayoumi said a meeting of Gulf Cooperation Council members in Riyadh on Friday had delivered “a big no” to Trump’s proposal for the Gaza Strip and that this conclusion was likely to be reiterated in an upcoming meeting with Arab leaders in Cairo.
Bayoumi said Arab opposition to Trump’s plan has been galvanised as it “has no logic” and would be a “disaster, this aggression, against the Palestinian people”.
“Egypt declared that we shall enter Gaza to start the rehabilitation process. The Saudis and the Gulf states are ready to finance this, of course, and we shall never hesitate to help the Palestinians to stay in their own land,” Bayoumi said.
“And really, I admire the Palestinians, that they insist on staying in their land,” he said.
Growing Israeli operation signals ‘genocidal intent’ in occupied West Bank: Governor
Israeli plans to intensify military operations in Tulkarem and surrounding refugee camps in the occupied West Bank are evidence of “genocidal intent”, the region’s governor said.
The Wafa news agency reports that Tulkarem Governor Abdullah Kmeil said recent statements by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz promising to massively increase the Israeli military presence in the Tulkarem and Nur Shams refugee camps would result in more extrajudicial killings, demolitions of homes, and the forcible displacement of the Palestinian population.
Kmeil called on the international community and human rights organisations to intervene to protect Palestinians in the occupied West Bank who have already endured 26 days of military operations.
