White House ignores State Department pleas as it calls for Palestinians to go to Egypt

Egypt will not be swayed to take in Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, US officials in the region have told the White House in recent days as they brace for the Trump administration to ramp up pressure on Cairo, Middle East Eye can reveal.

Trump has also said that Jordan will take in Palestinians ahead of King Abdullah II’s visit to Washington next week.

The growing divide between diplomats and the White House has heightened tensions, pitting President Donald Trump and his closest advisers against career diplomats in the region, who are ferrying messages to Arab officials.

In the case of Egypt, US officials warned the White House that the controversial proposal could destabilise a close ally and that Egypt would not be susceptible to financial incentives, a senior US diplomat in the region told MEE.

The notion that Palestinians can be moved to Egypt, Jordan or any third country is widely regarded as ethnic cleansing of the besieged enclave and would likely violate international law.

Another mid-level US diplomat in the region working on this issue told MEE that the White House appeared “tone deaf” to the assessments of US diplomats and remained intent on pursuing the plan to send Palestinians to Egypt.

Last week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio raised the topic in a phone call with his Egyptian counterpart, Badr Abdelatty, one of the officials told MEE.

Both US officials say they expect the rift between US embassies in the region and the White House to widen following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with Trump on Tuesday.

Read more: White House ignores State Department pleas as it calls for Palestinians to go to Egypt