German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal to resettle Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.

“We must not resettle the population of Gaza to Egypt,” Mr Scholz said at a campaign event in the south-western German city of Ludwigsburg, emphasising his “complete rejection” of Trump’s plan.

Mr Scholz said that everything must be done to prevent a further escalation in the Middle East and to ensure peaceful coexistence between a future Palestinian state and Israel.

After a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this week, Trump announced that the United States would “take over” the Gaza Strip and transform it into the “Riviera of the Middle East.”

According to Trump’s plan, the Palestinian inhabitants of the area would be removed from Gaza and accommodated in other Arab states.

The statement was met with international criticism and outrage from Arab states.

Other U.S. officials later sought to qualify Trump’s plans, even as the U.S. president doubled down on his assertion in a post on his Truth Social platform.

“It was not meant as a hostile move,” asserted U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, calling the comments a “very generous offer.”

In his Truth Social post, Mr Trump said that Palestinians would have the chance to be happy, safe and free elsewhere.

He said the U.S. would partner with “great development teams” to build “one of the greatest and most spectacular developments of its kind on Earth.”

(dpa/NAN)