By Sabiu Abdullahi
Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas has strongly rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal to “take over” and “own” the Gaza Strip.
A statement from Abbas’s office, released on Wednesday, reiterated the Palestinian leadership’s firm opposition to any efforts to seize Gaza and force Palestinians out of their homeland.
“President Mahmud Abbas and the Palestinian leadership expressed their strong rejection of calls to seize the Gaza Strip and displace Palestinians outside their homeland,” the statement read.
It added that “legitimate Palestinian rights are not negotiable.”
In a broadcast on Palestinian public television, Abbas’s spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeina, underlined that the Gaza Strip “is an integral part of the State of Palestine.”
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which Abbas leads, also condemned Trump’s plan to resettle Gazans in Egypt or Jordan.
Hussein al-Sheikh, the PLO’s secretary-general, rejected “all calls for the displacement of Palestinians from their homeland.”