WASHINGTON >> President Donald Trump on Tuesday suggested that displaced Palestinians in Gaza be “permanently” resettled outside the war-torn territory.

Trump made the provocative comments at the start of his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, where the two leaders also discussed the fragile ceasefire and hostage deal in the Israeli-Hamas conflict.

“I don’t think people should be going back,” Trump said. “You can’t live in Gaza right now. I think we need another location. I think it should be a location that’s going to make people happy.”

The president’s most strident argument to date for mass relocation from Gaza comes amid growing uncertainty that the temporary ceasefire and hostage agreement struck last month between Israel and Hamas can reach an even more delicate second stage.

Egypt, Jordan and other U.S. allies in the Mideast have cautioned Trump that relocating Gaza’s more than 2 million Palestinians would threaten Mideast stability, risk expanding the conflict and undermine a decades-long push by the U.S. and allies for a two-state solution.

Last week, both Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and Jordanian King Abdullah II dismissed Trump’s calls to resettle Gazans.