The American president says that “nobody explains the Palestinians of Gaza”, reversing previous comments on the emptying of the territory torn by the war of its population.
Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem welcomed the apparent retirement from US President Donald Trump from his permanent trip offered by more than two million Palestinians from Gaza.
The declaration of Hamas official came after Trump said on Wednesday that “no one expresses the Palestinians of Gaza” in response to a question at a meeting in the White House with Taoiseach Micheal Martin of Ireland.
“If the statements of US President Trump represent a retirement from any idea to move the people from the Gaza Strip, they are welcome,” Qassem said in the press release.
“We call that this position is strengthened by obliging the Israeli occupation to implement all the conditions of the cease-fire agreements,” he added.
Trump sent shock waves in the Middle East and beyond last month when he proposed an American takeover of Gaza and suggested that the Palestinian population of the war was permanently moved in neighboring countries.
Egypt that the neighbors Gaza and Israel also said that it appreciated the Trump’s remarks on Wednesday.
“This position reflects an understanding of the need to prevent additional deterioration in the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the importance of finding fair and lasting solutions to the Palestinian issue,” the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Thursday.
Trump’s apparent reversal came after the Arab foreign ministers met in Qatar on Wednesday with the American envoy of the Middle East Steve Witkoff to discuss the reconstruction of Gaza.
The foreign ministers of Qatar, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the Secretary General of the Palestine Liberation Organization were present in Reunion, according to a statement from the Qatar Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“Arab foreign ministers have discussed the Gaza reconstruction plan, which was approved at the top of the Arab League which was held in Cairo on March 4, 2025,” said the ministry.
“They also agreed with the American envoy to continue consultations and coordination on this level as the basis of reconstruction efforts in the sector,” he added.
On Saturday, the organization of 57 members of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) officially adopted a Gaza plan put forward by the Arab League at an emergency meeting in Saudi Arabia. The Egyptian initiative has become a proposal to reconstruct the Gaza Strip under the future administration of the Palestinian authority in response to Trump’s threat to take control of Gaza and empty the territory of its residents.
Gaza ceasefire talks
A new series of discussions on a ceasefire in Gaza also started in Qatar on Tuesday, with Witkoff sent to Doha for mediations.
“The Arab ministers stressed the importance of maintaining the cease-fire in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories, stressing the need for real efforts to achieve a just and complete peace based on the two-state solution, guaranteeing the implementation of the Department of Palestinian Affairs for Freedom and Independence,” added the Declaration of the Ministry of Palestinian Affairs.
On Sunday, Taher al-Nono, political advisor to the management of Hamas, confirmed unprecedented direct talks with Washington in the Qatari capital, focused on the release of an American-Israeli national double held by the armed group in Gaza.
Al-Nono said that meetings between Hamas leaders and the American hostage negotiator, Adam Boehler, also discussed how to see through the implementation of the gradual trigger agreement between Hamas and Israel aimed at putting an end to the war against Gaza.
Direct discussions between Boehler and Hamas have broken up with a Washington decades policy against negotiations with groups that the United States mark “terrorist organizations”.
A delegation from Hamas has also met in the past two days with Egyptian mediators and has reaffirmed its desire to negotiate the next phase of the ceasefire with Israel, while Israel sent negotiators to Doha on Monday for cease-fire talks.
The first phase of 42 days of the Gaza ceasefire agreement expired earlier this month without Israel Agreement on the following stages intended to ensure a lasting end for its war against Gaza.
Israel has since imposed a complete blockage in Gaza, which has entered the 12th day and includes the prevention of the entry of food, fuel and drugs in the territory in what has been described as an act of collective punishment and “the armament of Israel of humanitarian aid” to put pressure on Hamas.
