US president says ‘nobody is expelling Palestinians from Gaza’, reversing earlier comments on emptying the war-torn territory of its population.
Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem has welcomed United States President Donald Trump’s apparent retreat from his proposed permanent displacement of more than two million Palestinians from Gaza.
The statement by the Hamas official came after Trump said on Wednesday that “nobody is expelling any Palestinians from Gaza” in response to a question during a meeting in the White House with Ireland’s Taoiseach Micheal Martin.
“If US President Trump’s statements represent a retreat from any idea of displacing the people of the Gaza Strip, they are welcomed,” Qassem said in the statement.
“We call for this position to be reinforced by obligating the Israeli occupation to implement all the terms of the ceasefire agreements,” he added.
Trump sent shockwaves throughout the Middle East and beyond last month when he proposed a US takeover of Gaza and suggested that the war-torn territory’s Palestinian population be permanently displaced to live in neighbouring countries.
Trump’s apparent reversal came after Arab foreign ministers met in Qatar on Wednesday with the US’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff to discuss reconstruction for Gaza.
Foreign ministers from Qatar, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Organization were present at the meeting, according to a statement from Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“The Arab foreign ministers discussed the Gaza reconstruction plan, which was approved at the Arab League Summit held in Cairo on March 4, 2025,” the ministry said.
“They also agreed with the US envoy to continue consultations and coordination on this plan as a basis for the reconstruction efforts in the sector,” it added.
On Saturday, the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) formally adopted a plan for Gaza put forward by the Arab League at an emergency meeting in Saudi Arabia. The Egyptian-spearheaded initiative emerged as a proposal to rebuild the Gaza Strip under the future administration of the Palestinian Authority in response to Trump’s threat to take over Gaza and empty the territory of its residents.
Gaza ceasefire talks
A new round of talks on a ceasefire in Gaza also began in Qatar on Tuesday, with Witkoff dispatched to Doha for the mediations.
“The Arab ministers emphasised the importance of maintaining the ceasefire in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories, stressing the need for genuine efforts to achieve a just and comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution, ensuring the fulfilment of the Palestinian people’s aspirations for freedom and independence,” the Qatari Foreign Ministry statement added.
On Sunday, Taher al-Nono, a political adviser to the Hamas leadership, confirmed unprecedented, direct talks with Washington in the Qatari capital focused on the release of an American-Israeli dual national being held by the armed group in Gaza.
Al-Nono said the meetings between Hamas leaders and the US’s hostage negotiator, Adam Boehler, had also discussed how to see through the implementation of the phased ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel aimed at ending the war on Gaza.
The direct discussions between Boehler and Hamas broke with a decades-old policy by Washington against negotiating with groups that the US brands as “terrorist organisations”.
A Hamas delegation has also met over the past two days with Egyptian mediators and reaffirmed its readiness to negotiate the next phase of the ceasefire with Israel, while Israel sent negotiators to Doha on Monday for ceasefire talks.
The 42-day first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal expired earlier this month without agreement from Israel on subsequent stages meant to secure a lasting end to its war on Gaza.
Israel has since imposed a complete blockade on Gaza, which has entered a 12th day and includes preventing the entry of food, fuel and medicines to the territory in what has been described as an act of collective punishment and Israel’s “weaponisation of humanitarian aid” to pressure Hamas.