US President Donald Trump met with Jordanian King Abdullah II and re-presented his plan for the US to take control of the Gaza Strip and permanently resettle its residents, Reuters and BTA reported.
Trump put pressure on the Jordanian monarch to accept Palestinians in his country, although Abdullah II expressed categorical disagreement with such a move.
Shortly after the king arrived at the White House, media representatives were invited to the Oval Office, where the US President showed that he had no intention of backing down from his plan for Washington to take control of Gaza, resettle the residents shocked by the military actions and rebuild the war-ravaged territory.
Trump and Abdullah II spoke to reporters in the presence of the king's son - Crown Prince Hussein Safadi, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other officials. Later, the Jordanian king met with US senators.
King Abdullah is the first Arab leader to meet with Trump since the announcement of the US plan for Gaza. The US president angered the Arab world by saying that his plan does not provide for the Palestinians to be able to return to their homes.
Although the two have demonstrated cordial relations, Trump's statements on Gaza have put King Abdullah in an awkward position, Reuters commented.
"We will take it. We will keep it, we will cherish it", Trump said, emphasizing that his plan would create "a lot of jobs for the people of the Middle East" and would "bring peace" to the region. At one point, Trump seemed to urge the Jordanian monarch to say he would take in Palestinians from Gaza. But King Abdullah II said he would do what was best for his country. He announced that Jordan would take in 2,000 sick children from Gaza for treatment, a decision Trump welcomed.
"The question is how do we make it work for everyone," the Jordanian king said of Trump's plan for Gaza.
The US president said that eventually Jordan, as well as Egypt, would agree to take in the displaced Gazans. Both countries rely on Washington for economic and military aid.
"I believe we will have a piece of land in Jordan. I believe we will have land in Egypt," Trump said. "We may have another place, but I think when we finish the negotiations, we will have a place where they will live very happily and very safely", the American president added. "We provide a lot of money to Jordan, and by the way, to Egypt - a lot for both countries. But I don't need to threaten with that. I think we are above that kind of thing", Trump told the Jordanian king in response to a journalistic question.
After the meeting, Abdullah II said that he "categorically opposes the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza and the occupied West Bank". "Achieving a just peace based on the two-state solution is the way to ensure regional stability. This requires leadership from the United States", the Jordanian king wrote in a statement distributed on the social network "Ex". "President Trump is a man of peace. He played an important role in the ceasefire in Gaza. We expect the US and all interested parties to ensure that the ceasefire is maintained," added Abdullah II. "This is a common Arab position," stressed the Jordanian king, who described their meeting at the White House as "constructive."
Trump, for his part, said the conversation was "great."
After the meeting between the two leaders, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry issued a press release stating that it would present a "comprehensive proposal" for the reconstruction of Gaza, ensuring that the Palestinians would not leave their land. The text states that Cairo looks forward to cooperating with the US president to achieve a just peace in the region.