President Trump's brave proposal to drive all Palestinians out of Gaza and turn them into US territory has sent shockwaves around the world. It was rejected by American allies and enemies. It has been criticized by experts as a violation of international law.
Here's what we know about Trump's ideas about mass resettlement and the serious obstacles it faces:
suggestion
Since taking office last month, Trump has been thinking that Palestinians will leave Gaza many times. His suggestion that they could be moved to Egypt and Jordan was rejected last week by these countries along with a wide group of Arab countries.
On Tuesday evening, the president went even further. Speaking with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, Trump said the US had taken control of Gaza, setting the Palestinian population that lives there, and the “Middle Eastern Riviera” was a “middle Eastern Riviera.” He said he intends to change it to “.
But he didn't say how he planned it. It provided little detail on the logistics required or extensive political manipulation.
Regional complexity
The massive relocation of about 2 million people in Gaza is a politically explosive idea in an area with a long, bloody history of forced resettlement.
While Trump framed the issue as a humanitarian order and an opportunity for economic development, he has effectively resumed the geopolitical Pandora box that has widespread impact on the Middle East. Control of Gaza has been one of the major flashpoints of Arab-Israel conflict for decades, and for Palestinians and their allies, Trump's proposal would constitute ethnic cleansing.
Many Gazaans were descendants of Palestinians who were driven out of their homes during the war surrounding the establishment of Israel in 1948, and became known around the Arab world as Naqbah or catastrophe. Now, Trump suggests they will be driven away again – claiming that Palestinians would welcome it as “live in hell” in Gaza.
“I think they're going to be excited,” he said.
But internationally supported Palestinian authorities, like Hamas, which has ruled in Gaza for most of the last 20 years, have rejected President Trump's proposal, and since the ceasefire contract with Israel took effect last month, From there I began to reestablish control.
“Our people in Gaza will not allow these plans to be enacted,” Hamas official Sami Abu Zuri said in a statement.
cost
Trump likened his thoughts on moving to a New York real estate project where he built his career. “If we can find the right land, or a lot of land and build a really great place with enough money in the area, that's certainly true,” he said. “I think that's much better than going back to Gaza.”
But we still don't know where that money will come from. Trump suggested that other countries in the region could fund resettlement, but he did not provide details.
He also did not say who would fund and build the sparkly and modern “Riviera” he had imagined. Trump has once again proposed that other countries pay for Gaza reconstruction – a project that his Middle Eastern envoy said last 10 to 15 years – but he said he “has “long-term ownership.” He said he foresaw a position. .
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry, a major US partner, said in a statement that Gaza's aid and recovery programme must be launched “without the departure of Palestinians.” King Abdullah II of Jordan on Wednesday refused to attempt to annex the land by replacing the Palestinians on Wednesday, according to the Royal Court of Jordan.
Legality
Trump left him not answering many other basic questions, such as how we in Gaza will be enacted and whether the use of force is necessary. He admitted that the US military might be needed.
However, experts say his proposal would undoubtedly violate international law.
The Geneva treaty ratified by both the US and Israel prohibits forced relocation of the population. The deportation or transfer of civilians is defined as a violation of international humanitarian law, war crimes, or crimes against humanity.
Experts say that the US will permanently take over Gaza territory would be an even more serious violation. According to Marco Milanovich, a professor of international law at the UK's Reading University, the details of the violation depend in part on whether Palestine is considered a state. The United Nations recognizes Palestine as a “permanent observer nation,” and 146 of the 193 UN member states recognize Palestinian states, but the United States does not.
The prohibition of one state annexing all or part of the territory of another state is one of the most important and fundamental principles of international law. “There are clear rules,” Professor Milanovic said. “You cannot conquer another person's territory.”
It is rare for a state to violate that rule. As in the case of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, their response has been criticized worldwide and worldwide when they have.
That may help explain why by Wednesday afternoon the Trump administration appeared to be trying to soften some of the president's more problematic proposals.
Speaking to Guatemala reporters during a trip to Latin America, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Trump is proposing to clean up and rebuild Gaza.
“The only thing President Trump has done – in my view, very generously – is to provide a willingness to clear the shards and clean the place from all destruction,” Rubio said. I said. People can go back. ”
That was an idea, Rubio added, “People need to take it seriously.”
