The US must honour international law and human rights

It has also emerged from the Israeli media that US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff had also discussed the idea with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem. According to reports on Israeli public radio, Witkoff pressed Netanyahu to remove whatever political obstacles remained that could derail the three stages of the ceasefire deal agreed between Israel and Hamas earlier this month. They also discussed the suggestion that Gaza's population be displaced to Egypt and Jordan. While no official details of the meeting were released, senior officials later indicated that they had "got the impression that the Americans are serious about this idea and that it is not just talk".

 

 

However, after 15 months of relentless aerial bombardment and ground invasions by Israel, resulting in the killing of some 47,354 people, the injuring of 111,563 and the destruction of approximately 60 per cent of all housing in the enclave, it is in Gaza where Trump's latest idea stands to have the greatest humanitarian impact.

 

 

It would be interesting to refer here to the diverse immediate international response that emerged from such an initiative put forth by President Trump about Gaza. Almost everyone outside Israel, including Egypt, Jordan, the UN and Palestinian leaders, has rejected the idea. Foreign ministers of five Arab countries have also issued a joint statement rejecting the forced displacement of Palestinians from their land. The statement has presented a unified stance against US President Donald Trump's call for Egypt and Jordan to take in Palestinians from Gaza.

 

Foreign Ministers and officials from Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, the Palestinian Authority and the Arab League have said Trump's proposed move would threaten stability in the region, spread conflict and undermine prospects for peace. "We affirm our rejection of any attempt to compromise Palestinians' unalienable rights, whether through settlement activities, or evictions or annex of land or through vacating the land from its owners … in any form or under any circumstances or justifications," the joint statement read. The Arab League has also forcefully opposed the plan and issued a statement stating that "the forced displacement and eviction of people from their land can only be called ethnic cleansing."

 

 

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in a news conference mentioned, "Regarding what is being said about the displacement of Palestinians, it can never be tolerated or allowed because of its impact on Egyptian national security. The deportation or displacement of the Palestinian people is an injustice in which we cannot participate," he told reporters. Claims from the US President that he had discussed the matter with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi were also dismissed as false by the Egyptian State Information Service. Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi also condemned the suggestion, branding it 'an injustice in which we cannot participate'.

 

 

Jordan has similarly condemned the plan, with King Abdullah II stressing during meetings in Brussels with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola and European Council President Antonio Costa, the importance of Palestinians being able to remain on their own land.

 

The Palestinian leaders have also rejected the idea. Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of the Palestinian Authority has condemned "any projects" intended to displace the people of Gaza outside of the enclave, while Hamas leaders, who oversee Gaza have told news agency AFP that Palestinians would "foil such projects", as they have done to similar plans "for displacement and alternative homelands over the decades".

 

 

The United Nations, which supports the Two-State solution incorporated in the Oslo Accords of the 1990s, has also reacted strongly to the notion of moving Palestinians to neighbouring states. This was reflected during a news conference when the UN spokesperson rejected Trump's plan, telling reporters, "we would be against any plan that would lead to the forced displacement of people, or would lead to any type of ethnic cleansing."

 

 

In addition to those directly involved, a number of other States have also been critical of Trump's plan to relocate Gaza's population. Germany's leader, Olaf Scholtz has dismissed the suggestion as "unacceptable". French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot has also dismissed the idea and told the French Parliament that the US President's suggestion was "absolutely unacceptable".

 

Spain, one of the two States within the EU to recognise the state of Palestine has also condemned the notion, with Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares telling the media outlet Euro News that "Gaza belongs to the Palestinians and the people living in Gaza".

 

 

This evolving paradigm has led many to recall what happened among right-wing Israelis following the Hamas-led attack from Gaza on southern Israel on October 7, 2023 which killed 1,139 people. The idea of removing Palestinians from Gaza and replacing them with Israelis started becoming popular among a significant portion of Israelis ever since the initial illegal Israeli settlements were removed from Gaza in 2005.

 

 

Subsequently, a Conference was held in Jerusalem in January 2024- titled "Settlement Brings Security". It was participated by 12 Israeli Cabinet Ministers, including the ultra-Zionist Minister of Finance, Bezalel Smotrich, and the far-right former Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir. Both took part in discussions centering around Palestinians' "voluntary" migration from Gaza and its subsequent resettlement by Israelis. Along with other right-wing Ministers, both Ben-Gvir and Smotrich, as expected, have welcomed Trump's suggestion of moving Palestinians to neighbouring countries. Smotrich has gone to the extent of telling reporters that he was already drawing up an "operational plan" to turn Trump's idea into an actionable Israeli policy.

 

 

On the other hand, the Arab Centre Washington DC, has told Al Jazeera that Trump's "outrageous" statement should be condemned for violating all norms and basic rights, and that "Trump says all kinds of things, and the US President's statement should be taken with a hint of scepticism. Sometimes, they are things that he means. Sometimes, they are things that he does not mean. Sometimes, they are things that he heard in a conversation five minutes ago. Sometimes, they are things that he thinks he heard but misunderstood."

 

 

In the evolving context, Foreign Ministers and officials from Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, the Palestinian Authority and the Arab League have highlighted that they "look forward to working with the administration of US President Donald Trump to achieve a just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East, in accordance with the Two-State solution". They have also welcomed Egypt's plans to hold an international conference in the near future with the United Nations that would be focused on rebuilding Gaza and affirmed that the UN's main aid agency for Palestinians, UNRWA's "pivotal, indispensable and irreplaceable role" in the enclave which has been mostly flattened during the fifteen months war between Israel and Hamas need to be restored.

 

 

Michael Becker, a Professor of International Human Rights law at Trinity College in Dublin, who previously worked at the International Court of Justice has made a correct and significant observation. Becker told the media that "the proposal to relocate Palestinians from Gaza to neighbouring States smacks of forced displacement, which would violate international humanitarian law."

 

 

Becker has also added that Trump's suggestion, if acted upon, could also clear the ground for Israel's subsequent annexation of Gaza, an act that Becker feels "would constitute a violation of the bedrock prohibition of the acquisition of territory by force. International courts have also found that a population transfer constitutes forced displacement depending particularly on whether people had a genuine choice in the matter". Becker has added, "even if some Palestinians might appear to consent to relocation, this would not necessarily make their displacement lawful."

 

 

Before concluding, one needs to also refer to a pertinent observation made by Leila Alieva of the Oxford School for Global and Area Studies with a different connotation. Pointing out to the failure of both the United Nations and the International Criminal Court (ICC) in being able to restrain Russian action in Ukraine the geo-strategist said, "I would say that unprecedented public opinion this time could be a factor," and added the caveat that, within Europe only three States - Ireland, Spain and Norway - recognise Palestine, and that Trump may simply not care about others.

 

 

One needs to carefully wait and see what happens during and after Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington. He is the first international leader to be invited to visit the White House and that is an indication of the level of support Trump intends to extend to Israel.

 

 

Muhammad Zamir, a former Ambassador, is an analyst specialised in foreign affairs, right to information and good governance.