Muslim nations reject Trump’s call to empty Gaza Strip of Palestinians

Foreign ministers from Muslim nations have rejected calls by US President Donald Trump to empty the Gaza Strip of its Palestinian population, and instead backed a plan for an administrative committee of Palestinians to govern the territory to allow reconstruction to go ahead.

Meanwhile, Hamas reported “positive signals” in talks with Egyptian and Qatari mediators in Cairo on starting negotiations on the delayed second phase of its ceasefire deal with Israel.

Spokesman Abdel-Latif al-Qanoua gave no details, but said the group is willing to start talks and its delegation has been discussing the means to do so.

Ceasefire doubts

The foreign ministers gathered in the Saudi city of Jeddah for a special session of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to address the situation in Gaza, at a time when the seven-week-old ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has been thrown into doubt.

In a statement, the gathering threw its support behind a plan to rebuild Gaza put forward by Egypt and backed by Arab states, including Saudi Arabia and Jordan, aimed at countering Mr Trump’s call.

The OIC comprises 57 nations with largely Muslim populations.

Without specifically mentioning Mr Trump, the ministers said they rejected “plans aimed at displacing the Palestinian people individually or collectively … as ethnic cleansing, a grave violation of international law and a crime against humanity”.

They also condemned “policies of starvation” that they said aim to push Palestinians to leave.

The OIC also reinstated Syria as a member of the grouping.

Syria was removed from the OIC in 2012 over then-president Bashar Assad’s brutal crackdown on opposition protests.

After some 14 years of civil war, Mr Assad was ousted in December by Islamist-led insurgents who have since created a transitional government.

Hostages

The ceasefire that began in mid-January brought a pause in Israel’s campaign of bombardment and ground offensives in Gaza aimed at destroying Hamas after its attack on southern Israel on October 7 2023.

The ceasefire’s first phase saw the release of 25 Israeli hostages held by militants in Gaza and the bodies of eight others in exchange for the freeing of nearly 2,000 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

But an intended second phase of the deal – meant to bring the release of remaining hostages and a lasting truce and full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza – has been thrown into doubt.

Israel has baulked at entering negotiations over the terms of the second phase. Instead, it has called for Hamas to release half its remaining hostages in return for an extension of the ceasefire and a promise to negotiate a lasting truce.

Since Sunday, Israel has barred all food, fuel, medicine and other supplies from entering Gaza for some two million people, demanding Hamas accept the revised deal.

At the same time, Mr Trump has called for Gaza’s population to be resettled elsewhere permanently so that the United States can take over the territory and develop it for others.

Palestinians have rejected calls to leave.

The ministers at the OIC gathering supported an Egyptian-backed proposal that an administrative committee replace Hamas in governing Gaza.

The committee would work “under the umbrella” of the Palestinian Authority, based in the West Bank. Israel has rejected the authority having any role in the Gaza Strip, but has not put forward an alternative for post-war rule in the territory.

Under the ceasefire, Israeli forces have pulled back to a zone along Gaza’s edges.

Death toll

Early on Saturday, an Israeli strike killed two Palestinians in Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah, the Palestinian health ministry said.

The Israeli military said it struck several men who appeared to have been flying a drone that entered Israel from Gaza.

Israel’s military offensive has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were militants.

The campaign was triggered by Hamas’ October 2023 attack, in which militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, inside Israel and took a total of 251 people hostage.

Most have been released in ceasefire agreements or other arrangements.

Hamas is believed to still have 24 living hostages and the bodies of 34 others.