US President Donald Trump believes it would be a good idea if Jordan, Egypt and other Arab nations take in a larger number of Palestinian refugees from the Gaza Strip.

"I'd like Egypt to take people, and I'd like Jordan to take people," Trump said earlier this week. "You're talking about probably a million and a half people, we just clean out that whole thing," he added.

In his view, the relocation could be "temporary or long term but something has to happen."

"It's literally a demolition site right now. Almost everything's demolished, and people are dying there," he said, adding that "I'd rather get involved with some of the Arab nations, and build housing in a different location, where they can maybe live in peace for a change."

According to the news agency AP, Trump relayed to reporters what he told Jordan's King Abdullah during a phone call. "I said to him, 'I'd love for you to take on more because I'm looking at the whole Gaza Strip right now, and it's a mess.'"

However, Trump's idea of forcing Palestinians to move from the Gaza Strip to neighboring states was met with immediate criticism.

In addition to the EU, Egypt and Jordan in particular have vociferously rejected the idea.

Egypt's Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that the temporary or long-term transfer of Palestinians "risks expanding the conflict in the region." Egypt supports the "unwavering insistence of the

© Deutsche Welle