Senior US senator calls idea of relocating Palestinians 'not overly practical'

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) – The idea of relocating Palestinians from the Gaza Strip is not very practical, a senior US senator said on Sunday.

"The idea that all the Palestinians are going to leave and go somewhere else, I don't see that to be overly practical," Lindsey Graham told CNN.

His remarks came a day after US President Donald Trump proposed relocating Palestinians from Gaza to neighboring countries like Egypt and Jordan – an unusual proposal that was opposed by the former Biden administration, and one that would amount to a large usurpation of Palestinian territory.

Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Trump said he raised the matter during a telephone call with Jordan’s King Abdullah.

"You’re talking about a million-and-a-half people, we just clean out the whole thing," Trump said, calling Gaza a "real mess." Some top Israeli officials have also spoken openly of taking Gaza from its Palestinian residents.

Graham, a senator since 2003 and an ally of Trump, was also asked what the president meant by “clean that whole thing out.”

"I don’t know what he’s talking about,” he said. “But go talk to MBS [Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman], go talk to UAE, go talk to Egypt. What is their plan for the Palestinians? Do they want to leave? Or what is the plan?"

Graham added that he thinks they want the Palestinians to be able to live with dignity.

The Republican senator said Palestinian group Hamas is a "problem" for the world, not just the Palestinians.

"But the question you asked is a good one. Does the Arab world support sending off the Palestinians out of Gaza? I'd be surprised if they did," he added.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi on Sunday rejected any displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, saying: "The solution to the Palestinian issue lies in Palestine; Jordan is for Jordanians, and Palestine is for Palestinians."

Israel's genocidal war has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and injured over 111,000 since Oct. 7, 2023.

Since Jan. 19, a ceasefire has been in place to bring relief to civilians in the Palestinian enclave and allow prisoner exchanges, but Trump said last week he is not confident that the truce will hold.