UN Arab envoys dismiss Trump’s plot to displace Palestinians in Gaza

IRNA – A group of Arab and Muslim ambassadors at the United Nations have denounced U.S. President Donald Trump’s declared goal of forcibly removing Palestinians from their homes in the besieged Gaza Strip, calling it a blatant violation of international law.

Speaking on behalf of the Arab Group at a press conference in New York on Friday, Kuwait’s UN envoy Tareq al-Banai said the displacement of Palestinians in Gaza must be unequivocally rejected.

“Such displacement is a clear breach of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949,” he said in a statement supported by representatives from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).

“We, the Arab countries, want to see a Riviera — a Palestinian Gazan Riviera — within an independent and internationally recognized state of Palestine,” he added.

Early this month, Trump proposed that the U.S. take “ownership” of the Gaza Strip and turn it into a hub of tourism, a move that would permanently displace the Palestinian inhabitants of the war-torn territory. “The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too,” the real estate investor-turned-president said in a news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington.

The remarks sparked a wave of global outrage, even from Washington’s allies in West Asia. Hundreds of protesters also gathered outside the White House after the brazen comments, warning that the Palestinian territory is “not for sale.” Despite the backlash, Trump has repeated his “proposal” several times since then.

Meanwhile, the secretary-general of the Qatar-based International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS) denounced Trump’s scheme for Gaza as very dangerous and called for a serious response from the international community.

The International Union of Muslim Scholars is following recent developments in the international arena with concern, especially the U.S. president’s plan to relocate Gaza residents to other countries, Ali al-Qaradaghi said, according to Shehab news agency.

He also censured tolerance and negligence in this regard as a “great betrayal,” saying that such plots are a clear violation of international law and threaten the security and stability of the region and the world.