King Abdullah Meets Trump on 11 Feb.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II will meet with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Feb. 11, the royal court said on Sunday.

The visit comes upon an invitation from the US president, it said in a brief statement.

Trump suggested last weekend that Palestinians in Gaza should be relocated to Jordan and Egypt, calling the enclave a “demolition site” after Israel’s war. His proposal, however, was vehemently rejected by Amman and Cairo.

A six-nation Arab ministerial meeting in Cairo on Saturday firmly rejected Palestinian displacement from Gaza and renewed calls for implementing a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Last week, Abdullah had a phone call with Trump, during which he underlined the importance of the US role in achieving peace and stability in the Middle East region according to Anadolu.

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Hamas Calls Trump ‘Displacement Statement’ as ‘Absurd, Meaningless’

The Palestinian Hamas, Saturday, slammed the repeated US statements on displacing Palestinians from Gaza as “absurd and meaningless.”

In a statement, Sami Abu Zuhri, a senior Hamas leader, said the “plans to displace Palestinians from Gaza are absurd and meaningless,” stressing: “What the Israeli occupation failed to achieve by force, will not be accomplished through political maneuvers.”

“The repeated US announcements on displacing Palestinians from the Gaza Strip under the pretext of its reconstruction reflect a persistent complicity in the crime,” Abu Zuhri said according to Anadolu.

The Hamas leader considered the US administration’s insistence on the displacement plans for Gaza’s Palestinians as “a recipe for further chaos and tension in the region.”

On Friday, US President Donald Trump said he is “confident” Egypt and Jordan would take Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, stressing and affirming previous statements on the issue.

“I heard somebody said they’re not going to, but I think they will. I feel confident they will,” Trump said from the Oval Office.

Trump doubled down Thursday on his controversial proposal to relocate Palestinians from Gaza, insisting that Egypt and Jordan would comply, despite their repeated rejections.

“They will do it. They will do it. They’re going to do it, okay? We do a lot for them, and they’re going to do it,” Trump told reporters when asked if he would consider measures to pressure Cairo and Amman to accept his plan.

Trump suggested over the weekend to “clean out” Gaza and resettle Palestinians to Egypt and Jordan, describing the enclave as a “demolition site” after Israel’s genocidal war.

The two countries, however, vehemently rejected any call for the displacement or relocation of Palestinians from their land.

Trump’s proposal came after a ceasefire agreement took effect in Gaza on Jan. 19, suspending the Israeli war, that has killed more than 47,400 Palestinians, most of them women and children, since Oct. 7, 2023, according to Gaza’s health authorities. 

Trump’s proposal has received widespread condemnation, with critics calling it “ethnic cleansing” and a “war crime.” Many countries in the Muslim and Arab world as well as European nations such as France have firmly rejected the idea.

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Arab World Rejects ‘Dark’ Proposal on Gaza

A six-nation Arab ministerial meeting in Cairo has firmly rejected the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza and reiterated the call for the implementation of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Saturday’s meeting, held at Egypt’s invitation and attended by representatives from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Jordan, Palestine, and the Arab League, issued a joint statement stressing the importance of working toward a just and lasting peace in the Middle East.

The statement also expressed support for collaboration with US President Donald Trump’s administration to achieve a comprehensive peace in the region based on the two-state solution.

The participating countries voiced their strong opposition to any attempts to infringe on the inalienable rights of Palestinians, including settlement activities, forced expulsions, house demolitions, land annexations, or any measures encouraging the displacement or uprooting of Palestinians from their land.

The six nations called on the international community, particularly global powers and the UN Security Council, to take immediate action toward implementing the two-state solution.

‘Clean out’ Gaza

Saturday’s meeting comes in the wake of repeated statements from Trump suggesting to “clean out” Gaza and resettle Palestinians to Egypt and Jordan, describing the enclave as a “demolition site.”

The two countries, however, vehemently rejected any call for the displacement or relocation of Palestinians from their land.

Trump’s proposal came after a ceasefire agreement took effect in Palestine’s Gaza on January 19, suspending the Israeli war, that has killed more than 47,400 Palestinians, most of them women and children, since October 7, 2023.

The relentless Israeli attacks have reduced the enclave to a wasteland of ruins and rubble.

Trump’s proposal has received widespread condemnation, with critics calling it “ethnic cleansing” and a “war crime.” Many countries in the Muslim and Arab world, as well as European nations such as France, have firmly rejected the idea according to TRT World.

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What’s The Condom Story to Gaza All About?

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday defended President Donald Trump’s order to freeze federal funding, claiming that $50 million had been earmarked for the distribution of condoms in the besieged Gaza Strip.

However, a review of the latest publicly available data from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) on condom shipments, covering 2023, reveals no such shipments to Gaza.

In fact, the only shipment to the Middle East that year was a $45,680 delivery to Jordan, which was noted as the first condom shipment to the region since 2019.

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) found “that there was about to be 50 million taxpayer dollars that went out the door to fund condoms in Gaza,” Leavitt told reporters during her inaugural press conference. “That is a preposterous waste of taxpayer money.”

But she did not provide any evidence to support the claim. Anadolu reached out to the White House for clarification but did not immediately receive a response.

USAID’s 2023 report shows that the US delivered over $60 million in contraceptives and condoms globally, with 89% of funds directed to Africa, 9% Asia and 2% to Latin America.

The Trump administration has frozen nearly all foreign assistance programs for at least 90 days, sending shockwaves across the world as countries grapple with an abrupt halt to a range of programs funded by Washington, from development to humanitarian assistance. The US is the largest source of international assistance.

The order, however, includes exceptions for Israel and Egypt, which annually receive $3.3 billion and $1.3 billion in foreign military financing, respectively according to Anadolu.

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