Jordan’s Ex-deputy PM Responds to Trump’s Gaza Statements  

“The US aid to Jordan is not free, but linked to America benefiting from its military bases on the land of the Kingdom,” Jordan’s ex-Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Mamdouh Al-Abadi responded to the statement made by United States President Donald Trump’s about the possibility of transferring Gaza residents to Jordan according to the assawsana Arabic website.

“If the US wanted to pay only the rent for the land, it would have needed to pay a much larger amount than the amount of aid provided to Jordan,” he added in a press statement.

“The United States of America wants to use aid to pressure governments and countries to accept its dictates.” He stressed Jordan’s position, which King Abdullah II has repeatedly announced, is clear and explicit in rejecting any attempts to displace the Palestinian people.

Al-Abadi stressed the US president will not continue to pressure Jordan but back down from his demands and statements, as happened in the decision to withdraw from the World Health Organization. He expected that the decision to stop aid will not last for more than three months.

He stressed that Trump’s statements will not change the reality on the ground at all for the people of Gaza remain steadfast on their land and the Palestinian people will not submit to any dictates or pressures to displace, and the interviews on television screens with the people of Gaza are the greatest response to the occupation and to what Trump said.

Al Abadi stressed the scenes of people returning to their towns in north Gaza, Monday, are the greatest response to the Trump utterings and that of the occupation government regarding the displacement of the Palestinian people. He described the scenes of people returning as a historic event that expresses the legendary steadfastness of such great people and the victory over the enemy.

He added the message of the Gazan is reaching the whole world as clinging to their land and no Israeli army, American, or any other force in the world can expel them, as their slogan has become either ‘death or land,’ and do not accept any alternative to their homeland, neither to Jordan nor Egypt.

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‘Not Displacement But a Two-State Solution’

By Khaled Shaqran

Jordan’s posture on the Palestinian question has always been firm and clear: Jordan is not, and will never be, an alternative homeland for Palestinians.

This position is not merely a political statement but a historical commitment rooted in the principle of justice and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people. Jordan rejects any attempt to liquidate the Palestinian cause or deny the rights of Palestinians under whatsoever pretext.

In reality, Jordan, which has historically served as a safe haven for those fleeing wars and persecution, is already under immense pressure on its resources and infrastructure due to the accumulated influx of refugees from successive waves of migration. It cannot bear the burden of accommodating more refugees or the multifaceted challenges their presence would bring.

The Palestinian people cannot abandon their homeland, no matter the pressures or threats they face. For Palestinians, their land is not merely territory but identity, history, and shared destiny. They will continue to hold onto it until their legitimate rights are realized. Palestinians will not relinquish an inch of their land, neither through enticement nor intimidation, and will persist in their struggle to achieve their dream of freedom and justice.

No short-term solutions would resolve the issue and end the long-running conflict, as some believe.

While the United States, as a global power, can propose initiatives and exert political pressure, it can never erase an entire people and their just cause. Despite the systematic killing, repression, destruction, and unprecedented exclusionary practices supported by some influential international powers, the Palestinian people have never stopped and will never stop fighting for their legitimate rights, paramount of which is the end of the occupation and the establishment of an independent state of their own.

It is also crucial for the international community to understand that the Palestinian issue is not merely a regional conflict that can be resolved through short-lived settlements. It is a human rights issue tied to the lives of an entire people and their ongoing struggle for freedom and independence. Therefore, any solution that does not rest on the foundation of comprehensive justice will fail and will not bring lasting peace. The only solution to this conflict is a just and comprehensive peace that guarantees the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

The two-state solution is the only viable formula that enjoys international consensus and reflects the will of the region’s peoples for coexistence in peace and security. Palestine, as both land and cause, is not negotiable or to be ever terminated, and Palestinian rights are historical and legitimate, beyond the power of any force to erase or deny.

It is historically inevitable all occupations eventually end, and it is time for the international community to recognize that this conflict cannot be resolved through displacement, killing, or destruction, but by achieving justice for the Palestinian people. Any solution that does not rely on the two-state framework will remain unattainable. The Palestinian cause will persist as a struggle for rights and freedom, and the region will not enjoy security, stability, or peace until the Palestinian people obtain their legitimate rights and establish their independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Khaled Shaqran is a columnist in the Jordan Times

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The Long Road Back to North Gaza

According to the Government Media Office, more than 300,000 displaced Palestinians in southern Gaza have returned to their neighborhoods in the north of the enclave since this morning, after the withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces from the Netzarim axis in central Gaza.

Activist Aboud Battah documents the return of displaced Palestinians from southern to northern Gaza after Israel’s dismantling of the Netzarim Corridor.

Palestinian journalist Mohammad Shaheen reunites with his children, who returned from southern Gaza to the northern areas after being separated by the Israeli occupation during the genocide that lasted for 15 months.

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Israeli Minister Forced to Cancel Brussels Trip Over ICC Ruling

Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli canceled a planned visit to Brussels over fears of arrest, according to the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office. The office cited “concrete warnings” and guidance from security officials but did not provide specific details. Chikli was scheduled to attend an event at the European Parliament and meet with Brussels’ zionist lobby.

Belgian authorities reportedly informed Israel that Chikli would not enjoy diplomatic immunity, as his visit was not an official state trip. Security sources told Israeli media that the National Security Headquarters warned of attempts to arrest Chikli, though no direct threat was identified.

The incident follows the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in November. The ICC warrant cited  crimes against humanity and war crimes committed between October 8, 2023, and May 20, 2024. Several countries, including France and Hungary, have stated they would not enforce the warrants, while others, like Germany and Norway, indicated they would comply.

Although several western countries announced that they would not comply with the ICC warrant, dozens of rights groups and activists have been filing lawsuits against Israeli officials and soldiers, resulting in many if them canceling their trips according to the Quds News Network.

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Trump’s ‘Business-like’ Solution to Gaza

By Dr Khairi Janbek

If you remember in the films, when the big mafiosi harms a friend or an ally, says, usually I had nothing against him, I even liked him, but this is pure business.

One is using this adage, because it simply reminds me of what president Trump said about the Jordanian monarch and the Egyptian president. He expressed his affection towards both, and said he got on well with them and liked them, but wants them to take refugees from Gaza and settle them in their own territories.

Now, doesn’t Mr Trump know that this move presents an existential threat to all? Or is he indifferent to their concerns, the fact being that, it’s nothing personal, just a businesslike solution to the Gazan Palestinians, whom in fact do not wish to leave their land as things stand now.

Unfortunately, this proposal stems from a very long history of the notion that, Israel is a very small country, and the Arab world is vast, and since the Palestinians are Arabs then they can be absorbed in other Arab countries!

Of course, this notion does not take into consideration that the Palestinians do not wish to leave their lands and seek justice in their own homeland, but then again there is an Arab contribution to this dimension which emerged in the so-called post-Arab-Israeli peace process, albeit in all probability unintentionally.

The fundamental idea of land for peace, which implicitly and explicitly meant land and state for the Palestinian people; which is incidentally a political notion, is that the Palestinian problem becomes a humanitarian issue that of refugees demanding the right of return.

In essence a people without land, or unspecified area of land doesn’t not constitute a nation. One is not going to bore everyone with justice and injustice, rather wishes to say why is it assumed by Mr Trump that the Palestinians should not have a say in their independent destiny? Why doesn’t he address them directly, after all the US is one of the guarantors of the Oslo accords, which incidentally gave legitimacy to the PNA.

Having said all that, where do we go from here, and for whom is Gaza supposed to be built for? If it is supposed to be built for the Gazans would that mean the Gazan status in Jordan and Egypt is a temporary proposal, in other words until Gaza is rebuilt? And who will rebuild Gaza?

These are very important details which cannot be swept aside without discussions involving the Egyptians, Jordanians and the PNA. But can Mr Trump’s idea really be worth considering and entertaining in terms of practicalities or is it on top-of-the-head remark?

The writer is a Jordanian columnist based in Paris

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