Washington DC:

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday (local time) doubled down on his threat of the United States “owning” the Gaza Strip by displacing the 2.2 million Palestinians living in the enclave to neighbouring countries as he met Jordan King Abdullah II– now of America’s closest Middle East allies. 

“We’re going to have Gaza. We don’t have to buy. There’s nothing to buy. We will have Gaza…We’re going to take it, we’re going to hold it, we’re going to cherish it,” Trump told reporters from the Oval Office as he met the Jordanian King.

But Trump, who made his fortune as a real estate tycoon did however deny that he would seek to personally develop property in Gaza. “No. I’ve had a great career in real estate,” he said.

Trump, who had earlier said his plan to “take over Gaza” would not include a right of return for displaced Palestinians, now said the redeveloped land will be for people in the Middle East.

“We’re going to get it going eventually, where a lot of jobs are going to be created for the people in the Middle East. It’s going to be for the people in the Middle East,” he said. 

He added that Palestinians living in Gaza would be happy to leave because they are currently “living a terrible life” after more than a year of war following the October 7 terror attacks on Israel by Hamas.

“Look at the way they’re living now. Nobody’s nobody’s living like that in the entire world. They’re living under buildings that are mostly fallen down and will continue to fall down, and they’re living under people are being killed every day. The conditions are horrible. There are no conditions anywhere in the world that are worse than the Gaza Strip,” he said.

The US leader stunned the world when he announced a proposal last week for the United States to “take over” Gaza, envisioning rebuilding the devastated territory into the “Riviera of the Middle East” — but only after resettling Palestinians elsewhere, with no plan for them ever to return.

Pushback

The American President’s plan to “own” Gaza and place it under “US authority” faced pushback from the visiting Abdullah II, who informed that Egypt was working on a plan for how countries in the region could “work” with Trump on his shock proposal.

“I reiterated Jordan’s steadfast position against the displacement of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. This is the unified Arab position. Rebuilding Gaza without displacing the Palestinians and addressing the dire humanitarian situation should be the priority for all,” Abdullah said on social media after the talks.

Trump has repeatedly suggested that neighbouring countries such as Jordan and Egypt could absorb Gaza’s population. “We will be in Saudi Arabia to discuss how we can work with the President and with the United States. So I think let’s wait until the Egyptians can come and present it to the President and not get ahead of us,” Abdullah said.

The Jordanian monarch also appeared to offer a sweetener to Trump, who the day before the visit floated the possibility of halting US aid to Jordan if it did not take in refugees.

“One of the things that we can do right away is take 2,000 children, cancer children who are in a very ill state. That is possible,” Abdullah said as Trump welcomed him and Crown Prince Hussein in the Oval Office.

Trump replied that it was “really a beautiful gesture” and said he didn’t know about it before the Jordanian monarch’s arrival at the White House.

The American President also retreated from his previous talk of an aid halt to Jordan and Egypt, saying: “I don’t have to threaten that. I do believe we’re above that.”

The Egyptian foreign ministry later said it plans to “present a comprehensive vision for the reconstruction” of the Gaza Strip that ensures Palestinians remain on their land.

It said Egypt “hopes to cooperate” with Trump’s administration on the matter, with the goal of “reaching a fair settlement of the Palestinian cause”.

Future Of Gaza Truce

Meanwhile, Israel has threatened to resume “intense fighting” in Gaza if hostages were not released this weekend, while Hamas insisted it remained committed to the ceasefire deal and accused Israel of violations.

Under the terms of the truce, which has largely halted more than 15 months of fighting in Gaza, captives were to be released in batches in exchange for Palestinians in Israeli custody. So far, Israel and Hamas have completed five hostage-prisoner swaps. But the deal has come under increasing strain in recent days, prompting diplomatic efforts to salvage it and Hamas to say it was “committed to the ceasefire”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that “if Hamas does not return our hostages by Saturday noon, the ceasefire will end, and the IDF (Israeli military) will resume intense fighting until Hamas is decisively defeated”.

His threat echoed that of US President Donald Trump who said on Monday that “hell” would break loose if Hamas failed to release “all” Israeli hostages by Saturday.
 

AMMAN:

A gunman crossing from Jordan killed three Israeli civilians at the Allenby Bridge border in the occupied West Bank before security forces shot him dead on Sunday, Israeli authorities said. It was the first attack of its kind along the border with Jordan since October 7, when Palestinian group Hamas carried out an assault on southern Israel, sparking the war in Gaza that has since escalated throughout the region.

The attack took place in a commercial cargo area under Israeli control where Jordanian trucks offload cargo entering the West Bank, officials said. The crossing, also known as the King Hussein Bridge, lies about midway between Amman and Jerusalem just north of the Dead Sea.

“A terrorist approached the area of the Allenby Bridge from Jordan in a truck, exited the truck, and opened fire at the Israeli security forces operating at the bridge,” the Israeli military said.

“The terrorist was eliminated by the security forces, and three Israeli civilians were pronounced dead as a result of the attack,” it said.

Jordan was investigating the shooting and a Jordanian official said the crossing has been closed.

The Israeli manager of the crossing said three workers were shot dead at close range by the driver crossing from Jordan.

Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty in 1994 and have close security ties. Dozens of trailers cross daily from Jordan, with goods from Jordan and the Gulf that supply both the West Bank and Israeli markets.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Representational image
| Photo Credit: Reuters

A 4.8 magnitude earthquake struck Jordan and Syria late on Monday (August 12, 2014), according to the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), with residents across both countries and in Lebanon feeling its impacts but no immediate reports of fatalities.

“The quake was at a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles),” GFZ said. It had earlier reported the magnitude at 5.46 but revised it down minutes later.

Syria’s state news agency said it had registered the earthquake’s epicentre east of the Syrian city of Hama. Hama police chief Major General Hussein Jumaa told Syrian state media that there were no reports of injuries in the city.

In Salamiya, a town approximately 30 km (18.5 miles) east of Hama city, residents rushed out into the dark streets out of fear, said Nasser Duyub, a state employee living there.

“My son was sleeping, I don’t know how I grabbed him and got out of the house,” Mr. Duyub told Reuters.

Residents said they saw a balcony collapse and ambulances treating people who had fainted.

Others in Syria said they had immediate flashbacks to 2023, when a 7.8 magnitude earthquake killed more than 50,000 – mostly in Turkey but with thousands also perishing in northern Syria. The quake also left widespread destruction in both countries.

“It was the same sound, as if it was coming out of the earth,” said Umm Hamzah, a resident of the Syrian capital Damascus. “I got dizzy just like last time, but the scare was worse because I knew what happened the previous quake.”

The Syrian civil defence operating in the northern opposition-held areas of the war-torn country said they had deployed to several areas to respond to any prospective emergency, but had not received reports of any damage thus far.

Residents across Lebanon also felt the quake. Both Lebanon and Syria have been hit by Israeli air strikes over the last 10 months as regional hostilities play out in parallel with the Gaza war, and several residents said they initially thought the quake was an air strike.

Jordan’s state news agency reported a 3.9 magnitude aftershock less than an hour after the initial quake.

Amman, Jordan:

At least 19 Jordanian and Iranian pilgrims have died while on the hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, authorities from their countries said on Sunday, as temperatures soar in the kingdom.

“14 Jordanian pilgrims died and 17 others were missing” during the performance of hajj rituals, Jordan’s foreign ministry said in a statement, not specifying their cause of death.

Iranian Red Crescent chief Pirhossein Koolivand said “five Iranian pilgrims have lost their lives so far in Mecca and Medina during the hajj this year”, also not saying how they died.

The hajj, one of the world’s biggest religious gatherings, is one of the five pillars of Islam and all Muslims with the means must perform it at least once.

Temperatures have pushed well past 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) during the annual pilgrimage that around 1.8 million Muslims are taking part in this year.

Many of the rituals are performed outdoors and on foot, creating challenges especially among the elderly.

Saudi Arabia has not provided any information on fatalities.

But the kingdom has implemented heat mitigation measures, including climate-controlled areas, distributes water, and offers advice to pilgrims on protecting themselves from the sun.

During last year’s hajj at least 240 people — many from Indonesia — died, according to figures announced by various countries which also did not specify causes of death.

More than 10,000 heat-related illnesses were recorded last year, 10 percent of them heat stroke, a Saudi official told AFP this week.

A Saudi study said regional temperatures were rising 0.4 C each decade, and worsening heat may be outpacing mitigation measures.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)