The European Union has opposed US President Donald Trump's plan to relocate Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to Jordan and Egypt. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Monday, January 27, on the sidelines of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels that the people of Gaza have already suffered too much and, like Israelis, deserve peace. The EU continues to support a settlement based on the peaceful coexistence of the states of Israel and Palestine, she added.
Germany on Monday rejected US President Donald Trump’s proposal to move Palestinians from Gaza to nearby countries – Egypt and Jordan.
Speaking at a press briefing in Berlin, Foreign Ministry spokesman Christian Wagner said that Germany maintains its commitment to the international consensus regarding Gaza's status.
“There is a common position shared by the EU, our Arab partners and the United Nations, which is very clear: The Palestinian population cannot be expelled from Gaza, and Gaza must not be permanently occupied or resettled by Israel,” he said.
Wagner added that the G7 group of the world's leading economies, which includes the US, has so far consistently supported this position in multiple joint statements.
“Expulsions from Gaza, and establishing new settlements here is not possible. This is also something that we made very clear during the G7 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Tokyo in 2023. In this respect, I think our position is more than clear,” he said.
Wagner noted that Trump’s idea was already rejected by the countries in the region, and underlined that international focus should not derail from the ongoing efforts for a sustainable ceasefire in the region.
“You have probably also taken note of the comments made by the foreign ministers of Egypt and Jordan. In this respect, I would like to point out that for us what is crucial at the moment is the implementation of the ceasefire agreement,” Wagner told reporters.
Slovenia's foreign minister on Monday criticized US President Donald Trump's proposal to relocate Palestinians from Gaza, describing the plan as "unacceptable."
"Slovenia's position is completely clear, we do not agree to forced expulsion," Tanja Fajon said during her doorstep remarks ahead of the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels
Underlining that Slovenia recognized Palestine as a sovereign and independent state, Fajon said Palestinians "have the right" to be in their own land.
"Any kind of forced resettlement in Jordan or Egypt, as both countries have repeatedly indicated in the past, is absolutely unacceptable," she said.
"This is also a case of gross violations of international humanitarian law and I think that we must take a very strong stand against this in the European Union."
US President Trump made his controversial proposal on Saturday, suggesting it was time to "clean out" the besieged Gaza Strip and relocate Palestinians to Jordan and Egypt.
Israel’s genocidal war on the territory since October 2023 has resulted in more than 47,000 Palestinian deaths and left the blockaded enclave devastated.