As predicted, President Trump's controversial calls for the US to 'takeover' the Gaza Strip is for the first time in many years uniting the Arab world and its leadership more than ever.
Ultra-provocative plans have been floated from the administration over the past days, including reportedly the idea of setting up a Palestinian state inside Saudi Arabia, or elsewhere in northern Africa.
Israeli media has even listed the African states of Morocco and the Puntland State of Somalia as places where Palestinians from the Gaza Strip could be expelled. The secessionist Republic of Somaliland was specifically named in a Channel 12 report, but this hasn't come directly from the US administration per se.
Naturally this is going to inflame Muslim sentiment in the region. Egypt has been among the first influential Arab and North African states to blast the Trump plan while expressing solidarity with Saudi Arabia:
Egypt condemned on Saturday as “irresponsible” statements by Israeli officials suggesting establishing a Palestinian state on Saudi territory, according to a statement by Egypt's foreign ministry.
The foreign ministry said it considered the suggestion a “direct infringement of Saudi sovereignty”, adding that the Kingdom's security was a “red line for Egypt”.
Of course, Riyadh swiftly condemned the plan, saying it will remain unwavering on the question of full Palestinian sovereignty. It said it will never normalize relations with Israel if Palestinians are expelled from Gaza.
Without doubt, this is going to greatly complicate US relations with the Saudis and make things harder for Trump policy in the whole Arab world, as one regional news source described:
The headlines across Saudi Arabia this week have been, by all accounts, as “firm and unwavering” as the kingdom’s official position on Gaza, rejecting outright any normalisation process with Israel without a Palestinian state in the equation.
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday, alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told reporters that Riyadh no longer has the precondition of a Palestinian state in order to open up diplomatic relations with Israel.
A short time later, Trump made the stunning announcement that the US would expel Gaza’s residents to nearby countries and then "take over" the enclave and turn it into a beach resort.
Within minutes, at 4am local time, Saudi Arabia issued a statement rejecting the entire premise.
“The Palestinian state is not the subject of negotiation or concessions,” read the headline in Saudi’s Al-Watan newspaper, citing the foreign ministry.
Since then, other Arab League members have agreed and expressed outrage and condemnation. Jordan too has rejected all calls to absorb hundreds of thousands more Palestinians.
Trump has been specifically pressuring Egypt and Jordan to take in the Gaza Strip's one million plus Palestinians. But the reality is that it will simply be a non-starter and practically impossible, without Arab support. The Arabs in turn have blasted this as brazen and open ethnic cleansing campaign of historic and sovereign territory. The United Nation has also issued such condemnations.