US president says ‘no person is expelling Palestinians from Gaza’, reversing earlier feedback on emptying the war-torn territory of its inhabitants.
Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem has welcomed United States President Donald Trump’s obvious retreat from his proposed everlasting displacement of greater than two million Palestinians from Gaza.
The assertion by the Hamas official got here after Trump stated on Wednesday that “no person is expelling any Palestinians from Gaza” in response to a query throughout a gathering within the White Home with Eire’s Taoiseach Micheal Martin.
“If US President Trump’s statements signify a retreat from any thought of displacing the individuals of the Gaza Strip, they’re welcomed,” Qassem stated within the assertion.
“We name for this place to be bolstered by obligating the Israeli occupation to implement all of the phrases of the ceasefire agreements,” he added.
Trump despatched shockwaves all through the Center East and past final month when he proposed a US takeover of Gaza and advised that the war-torn territory’s Palestinian inhabitants be completely displaced to dwell in neighbouring international locations.
Trump’s obvious reversal got here after Arab international ministers met in Qatar on Wednesday with the US’s Center East envoy Steve Witkoff to debate reconstruction for Gaza.
International ministers from Qatar, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Group have been current on the assembly, in keeping with an announcement from Qatar’s Ministry of International Affairs.
“The Arab international ministers mentioned the Gaza reconstruction plan, which was permitted on the Arab League Summit held in Cairo on March 4, 2025,” the ministry stated.
“In addition they agreed with the US envoy to proceed consultations and coordination on this plan as a foundation for the reconstruction efforts within the sector,” it added.
On Saturday, the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) formally adopted a plan for Gaza put ahead by the Arab League at an emergency assembly in Saudi Arabia. The Egyptian-spearheaded initiative emerged as a proposal to rebuild the Gaza Strip below the longer term administration of the Palestinian Authority in response to Trump’s risk to take over Gaza and empty the territory of its residents.
Gaza ceasefire talks
A brand new spherical of talks on a ceasefire in Gaza additionally started in Qatar on Tuesday, with Witkoff dispatched to Doha for the mediations.
“The Arab ministers emphasised the significance of sustaining the ceasefire in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories, stressing the necessity for real efforts to attain a simply and complete peace based mostly on the two-state answer, making certain the fulfilment of the Palestinian individuals’s aspirations for freedom and independence,” the Qatari International Ministry assertion added.
On Sunday, Taher al-Nono, a political adviser to the Hamas management, confirmed unprecedented, direct talks with Washington within the Qatari capital centered on the discharge of an American-Israeli twin nationwide being held by the armed group in Gaza.
Al-Nono stated the conferences between Hamas leaders and the US’s hostage negotiator, Adam Boehler, had additionally mentioned easy methods to see via the implementation of the phased ceasefire settlement between Hamas and Israel geared toward ending the struggle on Gaza.
The direct discussions between Boehler and Hamas broke with a decades-old coverage by Washington towards negotiating with teams that the US manufacturers as “terrorist organisations”.
A Hamas delegation has additionally met over the previous two days with Egyptian mediators and reaffirmed its readiness to barter the subsequent part of the ceasefire with Israel, whereas Israel despatched negotiators to Doha on Monday for ceasefire talks.
The 42-day first part of the Gaza ceasefire deal expired earlier this month with out settlement from Israel on subsequent levels meant to safe an enduring finish to its struggle on Gaza.
Israel has since imposed a whole blockade on Gaza, which has entered a twelfth day and consists of stopping the entry of meals, gas and medicines to the territory in what has been described as an act of collective punishment and Israel’s “weaponisation of humanitarian assist” to stress Hamas.
