European countries reiterated their support for the two-state solution after Donald Trump suggested America “take over” the Gaza Strip.
ADVERTISEMENTDonald Trump’s proposal to “take over” Gaza and displace 1.8 million Palestinians to turn the devastated enclave into the “Riviera of the Middle East” has been met with strong criticism and scepticism from European countries, which warned the idea would run roughshod over the two-state solution.
“An expulsion of the Palestinian civilian population from Gaza would not only be unacceptable and contrary to international law. It would also lead to new suffering and new hatred,” Annalena Baerbock, Germany’s foreign affairs minister, said in a statement.
“There must be no solution over the heads of the Palestinians.”
France delivered an unambiguous rejection of Trump’s plan, saying the forced transfer of the Palestinian population to enable the American supervision would “constitute a serious violation of international law, an attack on the legitimate aspirations of Palestinians and also a major obstacle to the two-state solution.”
“Gaza’s future must lie not in the prospect of control by a third State but in the framework of a future Palestinian State, under the aegis of the Palestinian Authority,” the French foreign ministry said.
Spain and Ireland, two countries that last year recognised the State of Palestine, voiced opposition against the unexpected proposal, which upends decades of America’s foreign policy. Specific details, such as financing and logistics, were not announced. (The Wall Street Journal has reported Trump came up with the idea in the last few days.)
“I want to make something very clear: Gaza is the land of Palestinian Gazans and they must remain in Gaza,” Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said on Wednesday morning. “Gaza is part of the future Palestinian state.”
His Irish counterpart, Simon Harris, said he would judge the White House “based on what they do, not what they say” but asked for a clarification of the president’s comments.
“We need a two-state solution, and the people of Palestine and the people of Israel both have a right to live in states safely side by side and that’s where the focus has to be,” Harris said speaking next to Taoiseach Micheál Martin, who also critical.
“Any idea of displacing the people of Gaza anywhere else would be in clear contradiction with UN Security Council resolutions,” Harris added.
During a Q&A session at the House of Commons, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer voiced reservations in his first major public break with the Trump administration.
Gazans “must be allowed home. They must be allowed to rebuild, and we should be with them in that rebuild on the way to a two-state solution,” Starmer said.
The British premier noted the most important issue was sustaining the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that took hold in January, including releasing hostages and allowing aid to flow into the Gaza Strip, where a humanitarian catastrophe is underway.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani conceded that Rome would look at Trump’s plan but that the country was still in favour of a two-state solution.
“It seems to me that as far as the evacuation of the civilian population from Gaza is concerned, the response of Jordan and Egypt has been negative, so it seems to me that it is a bit difficult (to implement the plan),” Tajani said.
ADVERTISEMENTPreviously, Trump had suggested that Jordan and Egypt should be prepared to take in around two million displaced Palestinians – a proposal both countries have rejected.
On Wednesday, Jordan’s King Abdullah stuck down “any attempts to annex land and displace the Palestinians,” and Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, in a meeting with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa, called on the international community to rebuild Gaza – without transferring its Palestinian residents to another place.
The European Commission has not yet commented on Trump’s remarks. The Commission did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Meanwhile, in the Netherlands, Geert Wilders, the leader of the far-right Party for Freedom (PVV), struck a discordant note by agreeing with Trump. Wilders does not sit in the government but his party is the largest force in the four-party coalition.
ADVERTISEMENT“Jordan = Palestine,” Wilders said on social media. “Let Palestinians move to Jordan. Gaza-problem solved!”
According to Dutch media, Jordan denounced Wilders’s comments as a “racist position” and Foreign Affairs Minister Caspar Veldkamp was forced to clarify that they did not represent official government policy.
“For the Netherlands, there is no doubt: Gaza belongs to the Palestinians,” Veldkamp said. “Our position is and remains unchanged: the Netherlands supports a two-state solution. That means an independent, viable Palestinian state alongside a safe Israel.”
This is not the first time that Europeans have come on the record to rebuke Trump’s expansionist agenda. His pitch to seize Greenland, the semi-autonomous island that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark, was also met with strong condemnation.
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