Between incredulity and nervousness, Washington's Arab allies were left with their backs against the wall. Alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, February 4, US President Donald Trump confirmed his support for the forced displacement of two million Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, rendered uninhabitable by 15 months of war between Israel and Hamas, to Egypt and Jordan. Taking his allies by surprise, he went so far as to suggest that the US take control of the enclave to transform it into the "Riviera of the Middle East," with the financial backing of the Gulf's oil-rich monarchies.

The main parties concerned hammered home their opposition to the Trump plan. In Amman, in the presence of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday, King Abdullah II of Jordan rejected "any attempts to annex land and displace the Palestinians." In Cairo, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, who was meeting Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa, insisted on the importance of politically and economically strengthening the Palestinian Authority in Gaza.

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