PL Deputy Leader Alex Agius Saliba has urged that Malta should recognise Palestine as a State, despite Prime Minister Robert Abela saying that the moment for such a move has not arrived.

Posting on social media, Agius Saliba said: "After Trump's statement where he said he wants to kick out the Palestinians from Gaza, it is more important than ever for Malta to send a strong message and recognize the State of Palestine."

President Donald Trump had suggested that displaced Palestinians in Gaza be resettled outside the war-torn territory and proposed the U.S. take "ownership" in redeveloping the area into "the Riviera of the Middle East." Trump said the U.S. would redevelop the territory after Palestinians are resettled elsewhere and turn the territory into a place where the "world's people"- including Palestinians - would live. He offered no detail about what authority the U.S. would use to take the land and develop it. Trump's remarks recently set off alarm in Arab countries and even among some of his Republican allies. The uproar led Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt to try to walk back the comments a day later. Then Trump took to his social media platform Thursday to insist that the U.S. could take over Gaza without needing to send in troops. He suggested that Gaza's residents would be resettled elsewhere in the Mideast as American interests "slowly and carefully begin the construction of what would become one of the greatest and most spectacular developments of its kind on Earth."

Earlier on Thursday, Prime Minister Robert Abela was asked for the government's position on the situation, to which Abela said Malta "believes in a two-state solution. That was always this country position and I believe there is broad convergence on this even with the Opposition."

Prime Minister Robert AbelaAbela, when he had been speaking to the press, had also spoken of the importance of always pushing for peace.

He said Malta was one of a few EU countries that signed a declaration saying that at the opportune time "we would recognise Palestine as a State. Until today we believe that moment has not yet arrived. However I also think that opportune circumstances are always coming closer."