Eight Muslim Countries Condemn Plans to Displace Palestinians From Gaza
DID Press: Foreign ministers from eight Muslim-majority countries — Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates — have strongly condemned statements by Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Defence Minister Israel Katz regarding the displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.
In a joint statement issued on Sunday, the ministers rejected proposals and plans aimed at forcibly removing Palestinians from Gaza, saying such measures would violate principles of international law, including international humanitarian law, and threaten the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.
The ministers warned that turning calls for forced displacement into official policy or concrete measures to uproot Palestinians from their land could have grave consequences for regional stability and international peace efforts.
They stressed that Gaza is an integral part of the Occupied Palestinian Territory and called for preserving the territorial unity of Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
The eight countries also reaffirmed their support for a two-state solution, with an independent Palestinian state along the 1967 borders and East Jerusalem as its capital, in accordance with relevant international resolutions.
The ministers called on the international community, particularly the UN Security Council, to fulfill its responsibilities and take action against attempts to impose a new demographic or geographic reality in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The statement comes after Israeli ministers Ben-Gvir and Katz publicly backed proposals for facilitating the departure or removal of Palestinians from Gaza. Ben-Gvir has promoted a plan described as “voluntary emigration,” while critics argue that conditions in Gaza make such displacement potentially coercive.
Separately, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said on Saturday that there is no U.S.-backed plan to forcibly remove Palestinians from Gaza, amid growing international concern over the Israeli ministers’ proposals.