Egypt’s president welcomed Jordan’s crown prince Sunday in Cairo as the two countries work on a plan to rebuild Gaza without displacing Palestinians.
President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and Al Hussein bin Abdullah II discussed the latest developments in the Palestinian territories, efforts to implement a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip, the exchange of hostages and detainees, and humanitarian aid access.
Al Hussein’s visit followed a meeting last week between Jordan’s King Abdullah II and U.S. President Donald Trump, who doubled down on his vow to empty Gaza permanently of its more than 2 million Palestinians, saying they would not be allowed to return.
Trump suggested he might force Egypt and Jordan to take Palestinians in by threatening to cut off U.S. aid.
Egypt will host an Arab summit on Feb. 27 and is working with other countries on a counterproposal that would allow for Gaza to be rebuilt without removing its population.
Human rights groups say the expulsion of Palestinians would likely violate international law.
Egypt has warned that any mass influx of Palestinians from Gaza would undermine its nearly half-century peace treaty with Israel, a cornerstone of U.S. influence in the region.
Arab and Muslim countries have conditioned any support for postwar Gaza on a return to Palestinian governance with a pathway to statehood in Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem — territories that Israel seized in the 1967 Mideast war.
Israel has ruled out a Palestinian state and any role in Gaza for the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, whose forces were driven out when Hamas seized power there in 2007.