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Reports this week suggesting that a war between Jordan and Israel could be sparked by US President Donald Trump's proposed ethnic cleansing of Gaza have drawn significant attention across the MENA region.

It comes after Trump said on Wednesday he would like to see the US "own" Gaza and that countries, such as Egypt and Jordan, should and would absorb the displaced Palestinian population, claiming "everybody loves" his plan.

Both Egypt and Jordan have strongly rejected the idea and reiterated their support for the creation of a future Palestinian state.

Forceful comments from Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi following Trump's announcement suggested that Amman would take a strong stance against Israel if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu forcibly expelled Gaza's population.

However, would the kingdom go so far as to engage in war with Israel in response to further ethnic cleansing of Palestinian land?

Some media has claimed so, particularly after Arabic-language reports quoted Safadi as saying: "If there are any attempts to forcibly displace Palestinians to Jordan, we will confront them with all our capabilities. This is a declaration of war to Jordan, and we will respond."

Lamis Andoni, a leading expert on Jordanian-Palestinian affairs who launched °®Âþµº as its editor-in-chief, said Safadi's comments emphasised the gravity of the situation.

"He said these comments to stress the implications of Trump's plan - this is what Safadi meant. This is a red line for Jordan, they are also afraid it will spark a civil war as it has inflamed people's fears and concerns for the future about more refugees in the country," she told TNA.

"So Jordan is sending a message to Trump, the Americans and Israelis telling them not to try. It's not that they want to go to war, it's that they will have to stop this from happening," she added.

Adoni said such urgency in the rhetoric was used because Trump's plan had served as a "strategic danger to the survival of Jordan and the Hashemite throne, this is why he said they’ll go to war".

She also noted that Friday would see much activity across Jordan to express rejection of Trump’s plan through mass protests which would mark one of the rare times public opinions and the official stance match.

Another factor to consider, Adoni said, was that if Jordan would accept the displaced Palestinians, "they will be accused of being subservient to Israel and they cannot afford to do that".

She said that many believe such a move would be "the end of Jordan" and that the Israeli use of the word "transfer" means "expulsion".

Declaration of war?

The comments from Safadi come following a brutal war on Gaza which displaced the whole population, and a harrowing assault on the West Bank where 70 Palestinians, including 10 children, were killed and around 26,000 people forced to flee their homes.

In a previous interview, Safadi said Israel was continuing to displace and attempting to transfer the population to Jordan, a situation the kingdom would not accept, where over half the population was born in Palestine.

"Displacing Palestinians from the West Bank to Jordan means transferring the crisis that the occupation has created and is exacerbating," Safadi said.

In September last year, he also warned that any Israeli attempts to displace West Bank Palestinians into the country would be interpreted as "a declaration of war" at a press conference.

Some reports suggested that Jordan would close its borders if Palestinians started crossing into the country, which was a more likely outcome in the event of a mass programme of ethnic cleansing.

The latest developments came as Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met Jordan's King Abdullah in Amman, where he stressed "the need to achieve a just and comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution, leading to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem as its capital".

Half of Jordan's population of 11 million is of Palestinian origin, and since the establishment of Israel in 1948 during the Nakba, many Palestinians have sought refuge there.

According to UN figures, 2.2 million Palestinians are registered as refugees in Jordan.

°®Âþµº contacted Jordan’s foreign ministry for comment but did not receive a comment by the time of publication.

(Agencies contributed to this report)