Muslim nations reject Trump's call to empty Gaza of its Palestinian population

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Foreign ministers from Muslim nations on Saturday rejected President Donald Trump’s calls to empty the Gaza Strip of its Palestinian population and backed a plan for an administrative committee to govern the territory to allow reconstruction to go ahead.

Meanwhile, Hamas reported “positive signals” in talks with Egyptian and Qatari mediators 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. There was no immediate comment by the office of Israel’s prime minister.

The foreign ministers gathered in Saudi Arabia for a special session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to address the situation in Gaza while the 7-week-old ceasefire is in doubt. Its second phase is meant to bring the release of remaining hostages, a lasting truce and full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

The gathering supported a plan to rebuild Gaza put forward by Egypt and backed by Arab states, including Saudi Arabia and Jordan. The OIC has 57 nations with largely Muslim populations.

Without mentioning Trump, the ministers’ statement 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” they said aim to push Palestinians to leave, a reference to Israel’s cutting off all supplies to Gaza in the past week as it presses Hamas to extend the ceasefire’s first phase instead.

The ceasefire that began in January paused Israel’s bombardment and ground offensives aimed at destroying Hamas after its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel. The first phase, which ended last weekend, saw the release of 25 Israeli hostages and the bodies of eight others in exchange for the freeing of nearly 2,000 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

Israel has balked at entering negotiations over the terms of the second phase. Talks should have started a month ago. Instead, it has called for Hamas to release half the remaining hostages in return for an extension of the first phase and a promise to negotiate a lasting truce. Hamas is believed to have 24 living hostages and the bodies of 34 others.

Relatives of hostages appealed to Trump ahead of their weekly rally in Tel Aviv: “Mr. President, a return to war means a death sentence for the living hostages left behind. Please, sir, do not allow Netanyahu to sacrifice them.” Trump last week met with eight former hostages, while the White House confirmed direct U.S. talks with Hamas.

Since Sunday, Israel has barred all food, fuel, medicine and other supplies from entering Gaza for its more than 2 million people, demanding Hamas accept the revised deal. Hamas has said the cutoff will affect the remaining hostages as well.

Trump has called for Gaza’s population to be resettled elsewhere permanently so 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 a proposal that an administrative committee replace Hamas in governing Gaza. The committee would work “under the umbrella” of the Palestinian Authority, based in the occupied West Bank. Israel has rejected the PA having any role in Gaza but has not put forward an alternative for post-war rule.

The foreign ministers of France, Germany, Italy and Britain said in a joint statement they welcome the Arab initiative for a Gaza reconstruction plan, calling it “a realistic path.” They added that “Hamas must neither govern Gaza nor be a threat to Israel anymore” and they support the central role for the PA.

Under the ceasefire, Israeli forces have pulled back to a zone along Gaza’s edges. Early Saturday, an Israeli strike killed two Palestinians in the southernmost city of Rafah, the Health Ministry there said. The Israeli military said it struck several men who appeared to be flying a drone that entered Israel.

Israel’s military offensive has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t say how many of the dead were militants.

Hamas’ October 2023 attack killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, inside Israel and took 251 people hostage. Most have been released in ceasefire agreements or other arrangements.