Senior Hamas officials swiftly condemned a statement by US President Donald Trump on Tuesday, accusing him of making “racist remarks” and attempting to “eliminate the Palestinian issue.” Another senior Hamas figure warned that such statements are “a recipe for chaos and tension in the region.”

Hamas officials reject Trump’s remarks

Following Trump’s recent comments reaffirming his desire for Egypt and Jordan to accept Palestinian refugees from Gaza, Hamas leaders were quick to denounce the proposal.

Izzat al-Risheq, a senior member of Hamas’s political bureau, stated on Tuesday evening: “We oppose the statements of US President Donald Trump, in which he called on the Palestinian people in Gaza to leave their homeland under the pretext of rehabilitating the Strip,” he wrote on his Telegram account.

“Trump’s statements are racist and represent a clear attempt to eliminate the Palestinian issue while disregarding our steadfast national rights. Our people in Gaza have thwarted migration and expulsion plans even under attacks for 15 months. The Palestinian people are rooted in their land and will not accept any plan aimed at uprooting them,” he added.

Sami Abu Zuhri, another senior Hamas official, told the Gaza-based Shehab News Agency, which is affiliated with Hamas, that they reject Trump’s remarks, in which he claimed that “there is no alternative for the residents of Gaza except to leave the Strip.”

U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he speaks during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in Washington, U.S., February 4, 2025. (credit: REUTERS/ELIZABETH FRANTZ)
U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he speaks during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in Washington, U.S., February 4, 2025. (credit: REUTERS/ELIZABETH FRANTZ)
Abu Zuhri warned that such statements are a “recipe for chaos and regional tensions.” He further stressed that Gaza’s residents “will not allow such plans to be implemented” and insisted that “what is needed is an end to the occupation and aggression against the Palestinians, not their expulsion from their land.”

Trump’s remarks on Gaza’s future

During a conversation with reporters, Trump stated that Palestinians in Gaza have “no alternative but to live in a site of destruction.” He added that if they had an alternative, “they would gladly leave, as individuals or as a group.”

Trump reiterated that he wants Egypt and Jordan to accept Palestinians from Gaza but clarified that he is not necessarily advocating for Israeli settlements in the Strip.