Qatar has reaffirmed its support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
This came after US President Donald Trump repeated his call to resettle Gaza’s population in Egypt or Jordan.
Trump said that he would be meeting with Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu “in the not too distant future.”
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Majed al-Ansari told a regular media briefing on Tuesday, January 28, 2025 when asked about Trump’s comments, “Our position has always been clear to the necessity of the Palestinian people receiving their rights, and that the two-state solution is the only path forward.”
He did not reveal details of conversations with US officials, but said that Qatar often didn’t see agree with its allies.
“We don’t see eye to eye on a lot of things with all our allies, not only the United States, but we work very closely with them to make sure that we formulate policy together.”
Majed al-Ansari
Qatar, the US and Egypt jointly mediated the Gaza ceasefire and prisoner-release deal that went into effect a little over a week ago, halting Israel’s brutal 15-month assault on the enclave sparked by Hamas’s 7 October, 2023 attack.
Trump repeated his wish to move Gazans to another country, after earlier saying that he wanted to “clean out” the devastated Palestinian territory.
The US President told reporters that he would “like to get them living in an area where they can live without disruption and revolution and violence so much.”
Ansari stated that Qatar, which hosts the region’s biggest US military base, was “engaging fully with the Trump administration and with envoy [Steve] Witkoff”, the President’s special representative for the Middle East.
“I’m not going to comment on the type of discussions we are having with them right now, but I would say that it is very productive.
“We have been working very closely with the Trump administration over the regional issues as a whole, including the Palestinian issue.”
Majed al-Ansari
Iranian Foreign Minister Mocks Trump’s Proposal
Separately, Abbas Araghchi, the Iranian Foreign Minister mocked Trump’s proposal to “clean out” Palestinians from Gaza, saying in an interview with a news agency that Israelis instead should be sent to Greenland.
“My suggestion is something else. Instead of Palestinians, try to expel Israelis – take them to Greenland so they can kill two birds with one stone.”
Abbas Araghchi
Trump has expressed an interest in making Greenland a part of the United States since his election win in November, arguing that the autonomous territory of Denmark is critical to his country’s national security.
In the interview, Araghchi also acknowledged that Iran’s regional allies have been weakened during the fighting with Israel, but insisted that they remain standing.
“Hamas and Hezbollah have been damaged. But at the same time, they are rebuilding themselves, because as I said, this is a school of thought, this is an idea, this is a cause, this is an ideal that will always be there.”
Abbas Araghchi
Also, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmaeil Baqaei, criticised Trump’s idea to “clean out” Palestinians from Gaza to other locations, such as Egypt or Jordan.
Baqaei said in a post on X, “Political coercion and demographic manipulations will not be able to force the Palestinians to migrate,” adding that Gaza is the Palestinians’ “homeland and they’ve paid [an] extremely high price to remain there.”
Meanwhile, Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, said that Gaza has defeated Israel with the ceasefire.
Khamenei said during a meeting with officials in Tehran, “The small, limited Gaza brought the Zionist regime, armed to the teeth and fully supported by America, to its knees.”
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