Nabil Abu Rudeineh, the official spokesman of the Palestinian Authority, welcomed on Thursday what he called “the retreat in the American position regarding the idea of deporting the Palestinian people from the Gaza Strip.”
In a statement to the media, Abu Rudeineh said that President Donald Trump’s apparent backing down from the intention to deport Palestinian Arabs from the Gaza Strip is “an encouraging step in the right direction.”
He added that the Palestinian Arabs hope that “the balanced statements of the American administration will continue, so that it will be possible to reach a political path based on international legitimacy and the Arab Peace Initiative.”
Abu Rudeineh also praised the unified Arab position opposing deportation. He called for “continuing the unified Palestinian-Arab coordination, as it is an important strategic step through which the Arab perspective can be advanced regarding the rehabilitation of the Gaza Strip and the initiation of a political path that will lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state.”
The comments came a day after Trump’s plan for the Gaza Strip was brought up during a meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin.
A reporter asked the Irish Prime Minister if he would discuss the President's plan to "expel" Gazans, at which point Trump interjected, "Nobody's expelling any Palestinians." He then mocked the reporter's news outlet.
Trump’s Gaza plan, which he presented during a recent press conference with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, stipulated for the US to take over the Gaza Strip and rebuild it after the war with Israel, while local residents would relocate to countries such as Jordan and Egypt.
Arab countries have rejected the plan outright and instead endorsed an Egyptian plan aimed at the reconstruction of Gaza, which carries a $53 billion price tag.