The foreign minister of Germany, a staunch ally of Israel, said "it is clear that Gaza — along with the West Bank and east Jerusalem — belongs to the Palestinians. They form the starting point for a future state of Palestine."
"A displacement of the Palestinian civilian population from Gaza would not just be unacceptable and against international law," Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said in a statement. "This would also lead to new suffering and new hatred."
She said that there must not be a solution "over the heads of the Palestinians" and a negotiated two-state solution remains the only one.
In comments made on Tuesday during a visit to Washington by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US President Donald Trump raised the prospect of relocating the more than 2 million Palestinians living in Gaza, suggesting it had become uninhabitable after nearly 16 months of war between Israel and Hamas.
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.
Baerbock, who didn’t mention Trump or refer explicitly to his latest proposal, said everyone agrees "that Gaza must be rebuilt as soon as possible," and that that will take "massive international commitment," to which Europe is prepared to contribute. She said there’s also agreement that "the terrorists of Hamas" must in the future play no role in Gaza.
She said that all efforts must now be directed toward implementing the second stage of the ceasefire agreement and securing the release of the remaining hostages.
