Albania rejects talks with Trump on hosting 100,000 Palestinians

Albania has “strongly” denied a report by Israel’s Channel 12 that it is in talks with US President Donald Trump’s administration about accepting up to 100,000 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.

In a post on X, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama wrote: "I haven’t heard something so fake in quite some time—and there’s been a lot of fake news lately! It is absolutely not true," Caliber.Az reports.

"Full respect and solidarity for the people of Gaza, who have been dehumanized by the savage Hamas regime and have endured a hellish war following the medieval horrors of October 7. But let me be clear: Albania has not been asked by anyone, nor can we even consider to take on any such responsibility," he said. 

The Prime Minister reiterated Albania's commitment to maintaining strong diplomatic ties with various Middle Eastern countries, but ruled out direct intervention in this issue: "We are proud of our strong friendships with Israel, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, and, of course, the Palestinian people, whose state Albania recognized a very long time ago."

"But Albania is not in the Middle East itself, and from the heart of Europe, we cannot do more than any other European country in such a matter. Yet, we wish and pray that the Palestinian people are given the chance to live in their own state, as free people under democratic rule, and that Hamas will never again be able to harm Israel—or, first and foremost, the Palestinians themselves," he added.

To recall, President Donald Trump has recently proposed relocating a significant number of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to neighbouring countries, including Egypt and Jordan. He suggested that these nations accept approximately 1.5 million displaced Gazans, aiming to "clean out" the area. Both countries have firmly declined to accept additional Palestinian refugees, citing concerns over national security and the potential for long-term displacement.

Channel 12 claimed that Israel believes that Trump’s call for Jordan and Egypt to host the Palestinians is “unrealistic,” and that Washington is therefore looking to other host countries such as Albania.

Earlier this month, NBC News reported that the United States is also considering Indonesia as a refuge for Palestinians while the Gaza Strip is being rebuilt. The Indonesian government has firmly rejected the proposal. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that it had not received any information regarding the relocation of Gaza's inhabitants to Indonesia. 

On January 27 morning, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians streamed onto the two main roads leading to the northern Gaza Strip, after the ceasefire agreement allowed them to return to their areas.

By Khagan Isayev