China opposes forced transfer targeting the people of Gaza Strip, the country's foreign ministry said on Wednesday in response to US President Donald Trump's proposal for the US to take over the region.
China hopes all parties will take ceasefire and post-conflict governance as an opportunity to bring the Palestinian issue back on the right track of political settlement based on the two-state solution, a ministry spokesperson said in a regular news briefing.
Trump said the US would take over the war-ravaged Gaza Strip and develop it economically after Palestinians are resettled elsewhere, actions that would shatter decades of US policy toward the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Trump unveiled his surprise plan, without providing specifics, at a joint press conference on Tuesday with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The announcement followed Trump's shock proposal earlier on Tuesday for the permanent resettlement of the more than two million Palestinians from Gaza to neighboring countries, calling the enclave - where the first phase of a fragile Israel-Hamas ceasefire and hostage release deal is in effect - a "demolition site."
Forced displacement of Gaza's population would likely be a violation of international law and would be fiercely opposed not only in the region but also by Washington's Western allies. Some human rights advocates liken the idea to ethnic cleansing.
