Arab Neighbors Egypt and Jordan Reject Gaza Refugees: ‘That Is a Red Line’

The king of Jordan on Tuesday said Palestinian refugees from the Gaza Strip should not be pawned off on Jordan or Egypt.

Israel has indicated it plans to attack Gaza to eliminate the power base of Hamas, the terrorist group behind the Oct, 7 massacre of more than 1,400 people in Israel. As Gaza residents heed Israeli warnings to leave the northern part of Gaza, crowding thousands of people into an already crowded area in southern Gaza has spurred talk of Gaza refugees taking shelter in nearby Arab nations.

Jordan’s King Abdullah put his foot down on such talk Tuesday while in Germany for meetings with German officials.

“That is a red line because I think that is the plan by certain of the usual suspects to try and create de facto issues on the ground, ” King Abdullah said, according to Reuters.

“There will be no refugees in Jordan and no refugees in Egypt,” he said, according to the Times of Israel.

“This is a situation that has to be handled within Gaza and the West Bank, and you don’t have to carry this out on the shoulders of others,” he said, according to The Hill.

“The whole region is on the brink. This new cycle of violence is leading us towards the abyss,” Abdullah said.

The only way out from Gaza under current conditions is the border crossing with Egypt, which is pushing back on allowing Gaza residents to settle in the Sinai Peninsula that borders the Gaza Strip.

A report in the Financial Times, in which no identities were revealed, said that a “senior” Egyptian official told a European official, “You want us to take 1 million people? Well, I am going to send them to Europe. You care about human rights so much — well you take them.”