Muhamad Yehia
The likelihood US President Donald Trump will see his Gaza plan through is slim, but does it have any standing from an international legal perspective?
US President Donald Trump sparked global controversy when he said the US would “take over the Gaza Strip” last week, stating he wished to turn the territory into a “Riviera of the Middle East
Trump made those remarks during a press conference held alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with the latter branding the idea “revolutionary” and “creative”.
Trump has since doubled down on the idea, despite multiple attempts by members of his administration to walk back his comments. The likelihood Trump will see his plan through is slim, but does it have any standing from an international legal perspective?
Forcible deportation: a crime against humanity
“If hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forcibly expelled and transferred outside their own territory that would amount to deportation,” Olivier Corten, Professor of International Law at the Université de Bruxelles, told Euronews.
When asked what part of the Palestinian population he would want to move out of Gaza, Trump replied “all of them” — a statement in clear breach of international law.
While Israel’s Defence Minister Isaac Katz ordered the IDF to draw up eventual plans for residents wishing to leave Gaza, the forcible deportation of a population is registered as a crime against humanity.
Population deportation is prohibited by multiple provisions of the Geneva Convention, as well as the International Criminal Court.
Trump’s highly controversial remarks come weeks after Israel and Hamas agreed on the first phase of a fragile ceasefire and hostage deal, but what the agreement between the two sides lacked is a clear plan on who will govern Gaza in the future.
“Taking control of one part of a state’s territory without the consent or agreement of that state would amount to an occupation. If force is used, it becomes an aggression,” added Corten.
The agreed ceasefire deal additionally does not state when the Israeli blockade on the movement of people and goods will be lifted, as the following phases are still being negotiated.
The Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal came under increasing strain on Monday, when Hamas announced that the release of hostages would be delayed, accusing Israel of repeatedly violating the agreement
Since Hamas killed 1,200 people and kidnapped 250 during its attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, the intense Israeli bombardment of Gaza that followed has killed at least 47,000.
Threatening Palestine’s territorial integrity
Donald Trump also stated that Palestinians “have no alternative” but to leave the “big pile of rubble” that is Gaza. However, according to international law, detaching any part of the Gaza Strip from Palestinian territory contradicts the principle of “territorial integrity.”
Palestinian territorial integrity is a long-running issue, with the International Court of Justice ruling in July that Israel’s continuing presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territories was unlawful.
The United Nations recognises Palestine as a permanent observer state, however the US does not. The UN has repeatedly called for an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, which it says has been ongoing since 1967.
When pressed on a timeline for his plan, Trump said he envisioned “long-term” US ownership of a redevelopment of Gaza, while refusing to rule out the deployment of US troops to support its reconstruction.
In a press statement released Tuesday, UN experts stated that “such blatant violations by a major power would break the global taboo on military aggression and embolden other predatory countries to seize foreign territories, with devastating consequences for peace and human rights globally.”
“Such violations would replace the international rule of law and the stability it brings with the lawless ‘rule of the strongest,'” added the UN experts.
Forcing states to host Palestinians
“The only thing that could be in line with international law, would be US aid for the reconstruction of Gaza. This would be under an agreement that inhabitants would be temporarily housed a little further away, but that’s not what we’re talking about at all,” Corten told Euronews.
Trump’s brash statements sparked a strong backlash from leaders in the Middle East and North Africa, with Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty telling US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Arab states firmly rejected Trump’s plans.
An estimated 100,000 Palestinians live in Egypt, which has a total population of 113 million, while an estimated 2.2 million Palestinians are believed to live in Jordan, which has a population of 12 million.
The US President further aggravated tensions on Monday when he suggested that US funding could be withheld from Jordan and Egypt in order to persuade them to accept additional Palestinians from Gaza. The following day, Jordan’s King Abdullah travelled to the White House Tuesday to speak with Trump face to face.
“No country seems to want to welcome these hundreds of thousands or even millions of people onto their territory. Forcing states to host Palestinians would obviously be contrary to their sovereignty,” explained Corten.
Although Trump is unlikely to enact his Gaza plan, a response would be warranted under international law if he were to do so.
Potential provisions include military and non-military sanctions. “It is hard to imagine force being used against the United States. But in any case, trying to free Gaza from US occupation would be in line with international law”, Corten explained.