Arab League chief rejects Palestinian displacement plans, warns Trump’s pressure could spark global crisis

CAIRO

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit reaffirmed his rejection on Wednesday of any plans to displace Palestinians from their land, warning that US President Donald Trump's pressure is pushing the Middle East into "severe discord" and will cause a "global crisis."

“We reject any plans to evacuate Palestinians from their land, and a fair settlement between (Palestinians and Israelis) must be achieved,” Aboul Gheit said during a session held at the World Government Summit 2025 in Dubai.

"If Trump continues to pressure Arab and Palestinian sides, he will push the Middle East into a new cycle of severe discord,” he warned.

“The plan to displace Palestinians will create a global issue. It is not just an injustice that humanity cannot tolerate, but it will also become a serious international crisis."

While hosting Jordan’s King Abdullah II at the White House, Trump said Tuesday that he would "take" Gaza under US authority and develop it with hotels, office buildings, and other infrastructure.

Aboul Gheit warned that Trump’s plan "would set a dangerous precedent for ethnic cleansing that could be replicated anywhere in the world against other populations."

Trump’s proposal to displace Palestinians came amid a ceasefire and prisoner swap agreement that took hold in Gaza on Jan. 19, pausing Israel’s genocidal war, which has killed more than 48,200 people and left the enclave in ruins.

Israel has turned Gaza into the world’s largest open-air prison, maintaining an 18-year blockade and forcing nearly 2 million of its 2.3 million residents into displacement amid dire shortages of food, water, and medicine due to deliberate restrictions.