Ikrame Imane Kouachi
February 01, 2025•Update: February 02, 2025
ANKARA
A six-nation Arab ministerial meeting Saturday in Cairo firmly rejected the displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and reiterated a demand for the implementation of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The 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 statement stressing the importance of working toward a just and lasting peace in the Middle East.
The statement also expressed support for collaboration with the administration of US President Donald Trump to achieve a comprehensive peace in the region, based on the two-state solution.
The participating countries voiced strong opposition to any attempt 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 urged the international community, particularly global powers and the UN Security Council, to take immediate action toward implementing the two-state solution.
The countries also emphasized the “importance of maintaining the ceasefire to ensure the unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid to all areas of the Gaza Strip, removing any obstacles to the entry of humanitarian, shelter, recovery, and rehabilitation support in a safe and effective manner.”
They stressed the need "for the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and firmly rejected any attempts to divide the Strip,” calling for efforts to “enable the Palestinian Authority to resume its responsibilities in Gaza as part of the occupied Palestinian territories, alongside the West Bank and East Jerusalem, to allow the international community to address the humanitarian crisis caused by the Israeli aggression.”
Additionally, they reaffirmed “the pivotal, indispensable, and irreplaceable role of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and categorically rejected any attempts to bypass or diminish its role.”
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani announced Saturday his country's "absolute rejection" of attempts to displace the Palestinian people from Gaza, warning that such calls would only reignite confrontations in the occupied Palestinian territories.
He emphasized that "such calls would only renew confrontations in the occupied Palestinian territories and further exacerbate the suffering of the Palestinian people."
The meeting comes in the wake of repeated statements from Trump, who suggested to "clean out" Gaza and resettle Palestinians to Egypt and Jordan, describing the enclave as a "demolition site."
Egypt and Jordan, 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 Jan. 19 in Gaza, suspending the Israeli war, that has killed more than 47,400 Palestinians, most of them women and children, since a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 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.
