A suggestion by President Trump to “clean out” the Gaza Strip and ask Egypt and Jordan to take in more Palestinians raised new questions on Sunday about United States policy toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and drew flat rejections from two of its most important allies in the Middle East.
Mr. Trump’s comments appeared to echo the wishes of the Israeli far right that Palestinians be encouraged to leave Gaza — an idea that goes to the heart of Palestinian fears that they will be driven from their remaining homelands, but one that was dismissed by Egypt and Jordan.
“You’re talking about probably a million and a half people, and we just clean out that whole thing,” Mr. Trump said of Gaza on Saturday. “I don’t know. Something has to happen, but it’s literally a demolition site right now.”
Mr. Trump told reporters on Air Force One that he had spoken to King Abdullah II of Jordan, saying, “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.’” He said that he would also like Egypt to take in more Palestinians and that he would speak to the country’s president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
He said Palestinians could be in Jordan and Egypt “temporarily, or could be long-term.”
It was unclear from Mr. Trump’s comments if he was suggesting that all of the people in Gaza leave. The enclave has a population of about two million.
The suggestion by Mr. Trump was rejected Sunday by both Egypt and Jordan, which both emphasized that the only way forward was Palestinian statehood.