Eviction of Palestinians from Gaza Strip represents analogy to ethnic cleansing - UN investigator
The UN criticizes Trump's proposal to displace Palestinians from the Gaza Strip (Illustrative photo: Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump's plan to expel Palestinians from the Gaza Strip is illegal under international law and amounts to ethnic cleansing, states Navi Pillay, head of the UN Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
According to her, Trump is unaware of the principles of international law and the laws of occupation. She emphasized that the forcible relocation of an occupied group constitutes an international crime and is equivalent to ethnic cleansing.
"There is no way under the law that Trump could carry out the threat to dislocate Palestinians from their land," the UN investigator stated.
Pillay is a former judge of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the special court that dealt with the Rwandan genocide case.
She also condemned Trump's sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC), which issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes.
"International law applies equally, without double standards for a state’s friends," Pillay said.
In October of last year, Pillay's commission accused Israel of war crimes and crimes against humanity for the deliberate destruction of the healthcare system in the Gaza Strip.
The Commission of Inquiry on the Situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory operates under the UN Human Rights Council. On February 5, Israel withdrew from the Council due to discrimination and antisemitism.
Trump's proposal for the Gaza Strip
Last week, Donald Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Following the meeting, the US President announced his intention to send American troops to the Gaza Strip and establish total control over the enclave. According to Trump, the US would assist in rebuilding the region, which was devastated by the war between Israel and Hamas and would develop a Middle Eastern Riviera there.
To implement this plan, Trump suggested temporarily relocating Palestinians from Gaza to Egypt and Jordan.
However, the Arab League and the Palestinian Authority did not support this idea.
Additionally, Trump may allow certain Middle Eastern countries to help rebuild parts of the war-damaged Gaza Strip.
