WASHINGTON: Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty told US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday that Arab states support Palestinians in rejecting US President Donald Trump’s plan to displace Palestinians in Gaza and take control of the enclave.

In a statement, Egypt’s foreign ministry said Abdelatty, in a meeting in Washington, stressed the importance of expediting Gaza’s reconstruction while Palestinians remain there.

Abdelatty, who arrived in Washington on Sunday, said he was looking forward to working with the new US administration to achieve “comprehensive and just peace and stability” in the region, according to the statement.

Any suggestion that Palestinians leave Gaza, which they want as part of an independent state, has been anathema to the Palestinian leadership for generations and neighboring Arab states have rejected it since the Gaza war began in 2023.

Egypt’s foreign ministry said on Monday that the international community should unify behind Palestinians to right “historic injustice” and restore their “legitimate and inalienable rights.”

Trump’s plan has received global condemnation, with regional and global leaders saying such a move would threaten regional stability.

He said in excerpts from a Fox News interview on Monday that Palestinians would not have the right of return to Gaza under his proposal.