Does Donald Trump plans to force the population of Gaza to the neighboring states? | News Israel-Palestine Conflict


Egypt and Jordan both rejected the suggestion of American President Donald Trump that Gaza is “cleaned” and what remains of its pre-war population of 2.3 million has moved to the two neighboring countries.

Trump, who first mentioned the idea on Sunday, repeated it on Monday on the Air Force One when he answered a question of whether the remaining residents of Gaza would be moved short or long -term . Trump reiterated that he “would like (the Palestinians of Gaza) to live in an area where they can live without disturbance, revolution and violence”.

The Israeli media reported that the American special envoy Steve Witkoff had discussed the idea with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Wednesday.

According to reports on Israeli public radio, Witkoff pressed Netanyahu to suppress political obstacles that could derail the three stages of the concrete ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas earlier this month. They also discussed the suggestion that the Gaza population was moved to Egypt and Jordan.

Although no official detail of the meeting was published, senior officials later told Channel 13 news that they had “had the impression that the Americans were serious about this idea, that he did not was not only said to be “.

The displaced Palestinian children sit in the back of a truck while people head south to the northern parts of the Gaza strip, on rue Salah al-Din in Nuseirat in the center of Gaza, on 29 January 2025 (Eyad Baba / AFP)

It is not the first time that Trump has made statements on his desire to shake up the geography of the world.

In addition to his comments on Gaza, he suggested that the Greenland territory be annexed by the United States, the Panama Canal would be taken up under American control and that the Gulf of Mexico be renamed the Gulf of America.

However, after 15 months of implacable air bombings and ground invasions by Israel, resulting in the murder of some 47,354 people, the injury of 111,563 and the destruction of around 60% of all should have the greatest humanitarian impact.

What was the answer to Trump’s idea for Gaza?

Almost everyone outside of Israel, including Egypt, Jordan, the UN and the Palestinian leaders, rejected the idea.

Egypt

On Wednesday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sissi told a press conference: “Regarding what is said on the movement of Palestinians, he can never be tolerated or authorized because of his impact on Egyptian national security.”

“The expulsion or displacement of the Palestinian people is an injustice in which we cannot participate,” he told journalists.

The statements of the American president that he had discussed the question with Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El-Sissi was also rejected as false by the information department of the Egyptian State.

Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El-Sissi speaks
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sissi condemned suggestion, calling it “an injustice in which we cannot participate” (Jacquelyn Martin / Pool via Reuters)

Jordan

Jordan also condemned the plan, King Abdullah II emphasizing during the meetings in Brussels with the president of the European Commission Ursula von Der Leyen, the president of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola and the president of the European Council Antonio Costa, the importance of Palestinians to stay on their own country.

Palestinian leadership

Palestinian leaders also rejected the idea.

Mahmoud Abbas, the nominal chief of the Palestinian authority, condemned “all projects” intended to move the inhabitants of Gaza outside the enclave, while the leaders of Hamas, who supervise Gaza, told the agency AFP press that the Palestinians “went to such projects”, as they did to similar plans “for travel and alternative countries over the decades”.

The United Nations

The UN, which maintains the support for the two -state solution established in the OSLO agreements in the 1990s, also strongly responded to the notion of moving the Palestinians to the neighboring states.

During a press conference on Monday, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarri also rejected Trump’s plan, saying to journalists: “We will be against any plan that would lead to the forced displacement of people, or would lead to any type of ethnic cleaning. “

Other countries

In addition to the people directly involved, a number of other states have also criticized Trump’s plan to move the population of Gaza, including Germany, whose chief, Olaf Scholtz, rejected suggestion as “unacceptable”.

The French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noel Barrot, also rejected the idea, saying on Tuesday saying to the Parliament of France that the suggestion of the American president was “absolutely unacceptable”.

Spain, one of the two states within the EU, to recognize the state of Palestine, also condemned the concept, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Jose Manuel Albares saying to the Euronews media that “Gaza belongs to the Palestinians and to the inhabitants of Gaza ”.

The Arab League has also opposed it with the plan, publishing a statement on Monday, declaring: “The displacement and the forced expulsion of people from their land cannot be called ethnic cleaning.”

Who supports Trump’s idea to move the Palestinians to neighboring states?

Lots of right -wing Israelis.

The idea of ​​withdrawing the Palestinians from Gaza and replacing them with Israelis was popular among an important part of Israelis from the first illegal Israeli establishments was withdrawn from Gaza in 2005.

He took a new relevance in the eyes of many after the attack led by Hamas in Gaza in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed 1,139 people.

A conference, held in Jerusalem in January 2024 and entitled Settlement brought security, attracted 12 cabinet ministers, including the Minister of Finance Finance, Bezalel Smotrich, and the former Minister of Far Right National Security, Itamar Ben-girvir. The two participated in discussions centered on the “voluntary” migration of the Palestinians of Gaza and its subsequent resettlement by the Israelis.

With other right-wing ministers, Ben-Gvir and Smotrich welcomed Trump’s suggestion to move the Palestinians to neighboring states this week. Smotrich told journalists on Monday that he was already developing an “operational plan” to transform Trump’s idea into an exploitable Israeli policy.

The far-right members of Knesset, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, attend a special session in the Parliament of Israel of Knesset, to approve and swear in a new right-wing government, in Jerusalem on December 29, 2022 (Amir Cohen / Pool / Reuters)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not yet publicly commented on Trump’s suggestion. However, many observers have interpreted his recent invitation to the White House, the first international leader to be asked, as an indication of the level of support for Trump intends to extend to Israel, despite the many accusations of crimes of war and allegations of genocide against the state on his war against Gaza.

No.

“The proposal to move the Palestinians of Gaza to the neighboring states feels forced displacement, which would violate international humanitarian law,” said Michael Becker, professor of international human rights law at the Trinity College of Dublin, who worked before At the International Court of Justice, said in Tel Aviv Tribune.

Becker added that Trump’s suggestion, if implemented, could also clarify the reason for the annexation of Israel of Gaza, an act which, according to Becker, would constitute “a violation of the prohibition of the foundation of the ‘Acquisition of territory by force ”.

“International courts have also found that if a population transfer is a forced displacement depends on whether people have a real choice in this area,” added Becker. “This means that even if some Palestinians could seem to consent to resettlement, this would not necessarily make their legal displacement.”

The Palestinians who returned inspect their houses, which were destroyed by the Israeli bombing in Jebaliya, Northern Gaza Strip, Wednesday January 29, 2025 (Jehad Alshrafi / AP Photo)

Is it enough to prevent any plan from ensuring that the Palestinians are promulgated?

Probably not.

The United States remains the most powerful state in the world, many within the international community depending on trade and, in some cases, defense.

Even the UN, which criticized Trump’s comments, receives 22% of its annual budget – not to mention the cost of peacekeeping – from Washington.

Even if the United States was not one of the most powerful states in the globe, there is no mechanism to prevent it from violating international law, Leila Alieva of the Oxford School for Global and Area Studies, indicating the failure of the UN and the International Criminal Court (ICC) to restrict Russian action in Ukraine.

“I would say that unprecedented public opinion this time could be a factor,” said Alieva, although adding the warning which, in Europe, only three states – Ireland, Spain and Norway – Recognize Palestine, and that Trump could simply not worry about others.

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