After President Donald Trump announced that the US would seize the Palestinian territory and resettle its war-weary population, UN officials have condemned the idea of deporting people from Gaza, noting that it is strictly against international law.
UN chief Antonio Guterres will warn on Wednesday against “ethnic cleansing” of about 2.3 million people in Gaza, his spokesman said.
“The secretary-general will say that in the search for solutions, we must not make the problem worse. The foundation of international law must always be maintained. Any form of ethnic cleansing must be avoided. And, of course, he will reaffirm the two-state solution”, Guterres’s spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters.
Volker Turk, the UN’s human rights chief, was absolutely correct in his response to Trump’s statements, which have sparked outcry around the world. Turk remarked that “any forcible deportation or forcible transfer of people from occupied territory is strictly prohibited.”
Trump made the same suggestion as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a press conference in Washington, DC, and he later reiterated it. That would be considered ethnic cleansing, according to experts.
The “River of the Middle East”
The president urged the US to “take over” Gaza and begin significant redevelopment efforts to create the “Riviera of the Middle East” there, according to the president’s statement on Tuesday. He also advocated for “other nations with humanitarian hearts” to relocate the population of Gaza.
The audience members were shocked and audible as he made his announcement. It has since been rejected by Palestinian people and leaders, Middle East powers, and the governments of Spain, France, Russia, China, and the Republic of Ireland, among others.
The possibility of large-scale Palestinian emigration from Gaza, which has been the subject of Hamas and Israel’s 15-month-long conflict, has also been repeatedly rejected by neighboring nations. At least 47, 552 people in Gaza have been killed in the fighting.
Turk said in his statement that the focus should now be on achieving an agreement on the second phase of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas rather than Trump’s statements. Trump has repeatedly credited himself with ratifying the agreement, which became effective on January 19th, the day before he took office.
However, the first 42 days of the agreement, which is still ongoing, have only been reached by Israel and Hamas. In exchange for the eventual release of 33 Palestinian prisoners held in Gaza, fighting has stopped, and there has also been a release of Palestinian prisoners.
The second phase would see the war come to an end and the captives would be freed, but Netanyahu has been under pressure from his own government to retake the fighting.
No day-after plan has yet to be revealed, but a third phase is expected to eventually lead to the reconstruction of Gaza.
According to Turk, “It is crucial that we move toward the next phase of the ceasefire, release all hostages and arbitrarily detained prisoners, end the war, and reconstruct Gaza, in full accordance with international humanitarian law and human rights law,” Turk said.
An international crime, in other words.
Speaking at a news conference in Denmark’s capital Copenhagen on Wednesday, Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory, also decried Trump’s plan as “unlawful, immoral and completely irresponsible”.
“It’s incitement to commit forced displacement, which is an international crime”, said Albanese.
The granting of a sovereign territory without the authority of the controlling government is prohibited by international law.
According to rights experts, Israeli authorities have no right to cede control of Gaza to a foreign power because the UN’s top court has declared that Israel is an illegal occupyer of Palestinian territories.
Additionally, it is forbidden for Israel to remove Palestinians from the enclave without notice as an occupying force.
Albanese warned that if the US president continues to implement this plan, “it will only worsen the regional crisis.” She urged world leaders to make a statement.
The US needs isolation because the world, which is made up of 193 states, is now available, she said.
Source: Aljazeera
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