(Ken Silva, Headline USA) Jordan, an ostensible U.S. ally, is reportedly prepared to go to war with another ostensible ally, Israel, if the latter country attempts to forcibly expel Palestinians into the former.
The Middle East Eye broke the troubling news Tuesday, after President Donald Trump said he would like to see Jordan and Egypt take in Palestinians as part of a move to “clean out” the Gaza Strip.
“The last thing Jordan wants is war and it is eager for a peaceful solution. But they are adamant that the Jordanians will close the border if refugees begin to cross into the country,” Middle East Eye reported, citing “well-placed sources in Amman and Jerusalem.”
“If the Israelis seek to re-open it, that would be ‘a casus belli,’ one source said. The Jordanians are under no illusion they could win a war with Israel, but believe they would have no choice but to fight.”
Trump renewed his call to Arab nations to relocate displaced Palestinians on Tuesday, as he welcomed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House.
“You can’t live in Gaza right now, you need another location,” Trump said.
“The Gaza thing has never worked,” Trump told reporters. “If we could find the right piece of land, pieces of land, and build them some really nice places … I think that would be a lot better than going back to Gaza.”
Along with Jordan, Egypt and other Arab nations have flatly rejected calls by Trump to relocate the territory’s 2.3 million Palestinians during post-war rebuilding of the territory. Indeed, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, the Palestinian Authority and the Arab League have joined Egypt and Jordan in rejecting plans to move Palestinians out of their territories in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
Meanwhile, the Middle East conflict has expanded to include at least 16 countries: Israel, Iran, the U.S., the UK, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Djibouti and Lebanon.
Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
