France firmly denounced any forced displacement of Gaza’s Palestinians, warning that it would cause upheaval across the Middle East.
In response to Trump’s suggestion Palestinians in Gaza could go to neighboring countries while the US takes ownership of the territory, the French Foreign Minister said Tuesday that displacing Gaza’s Palestinians "would constitute a grave violation of international law, an attack on the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinians, a major threat to the two-state solution and a factor of major destabilization for our close partners Egypt and Jordan as well as the entire region."
It said France will mobilize for a two-state solution under the Palestinian Authority, and that ″Hamas should be disarmed and have no part in the governance of this territory."
France also remains strongly opposed to Israeli settlements and "any unilateral annexation of the West Bank," it said.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Palestinians must be allowed to return to their homes in Gaza.
Asked in the House of Commons about Trump’s comments, Starmer referred to images of "thousands of Palestinians walking through the rubble" to get back to what remains of their homes.
"They must be allowed home," he said. "They must be allowed to rebuild, and we should be with them in that rebuild, on the way to a two-state solution."
British Foreign Minister David Lammy said on Wednesday it should be ensured that Palestinians have a future in their homeland.
"We've always been clear in our belief that we must see two states. We must see Palestinians live and prosper in their homelands in Gaza and the West Bank," he told a news conference during a trip to Kyiv.
In comments made on Tuesday during a visit to Washington by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, 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.
Human rights advocates deplore such ideas as ethnic cleansing. Any forced displacement would likely be a violation of international law.
