United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has told US President Donald Trump to avoid "ethnic cleansing" in Gaza after the US leader proposed Palestinians resettle elsewhere and the United States take over the war-torn enclave.
"In the search for solutions, we must not make the problem worse. It is vital to stay true to the bedrock of international law. It is essential to avoid any form of ethnic cleansing," Mr Guterres told a previously planned meeting of a UN committee.
"We must reaffirm the two-state solution," he said.
While Mr Guterres did not mention Mr Trump or his Gaza proposal during his address to the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters earlier that it would be a "fair assumption" to view Mr Guterres' remarks as a response.
Earlier Mr Guterres also spoke with Jordan's King Abdullah about the situation in the region, said Mr Dujarric.
The United Nations has long endorsed a vision of two states living side by side within secure and recognized borders.
Palestinians want a state in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza, all territory captured by Israel in a 1967 war with neighboring Arab states.
"Any durable peace will require tangible, irreversible and permanent progress toward the two-state solution, an end to the occupation and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, with Gaza as an integral part," Mr Guterres said.
"A viable, sovereign Palestinian state living side-by-side in peace and security with Israel is the only sustainable solution for Middle East stability," he said.
The European Union said that it "took note" of President Trump's comments, but insisted that a two-state solution was the "only path" to peace.
"Gaza is an integral part of a future Palestinian state," a spokesperson said.
Even with large parts of the territory's north in ruins, hundreds of thousands of Gazans have returned since late January, under a fragile truce that has halted more than 15 months of war between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas.
Gaza's north, which includes Gaza city, has been particularly hard hit by the fighting throughout the war and especially since Israel launched a major offensive in the area in October.
Mr Trump yesterday floated the idea that a rebuilt Gaza would become the "Riviera of the Middle East".
Two-state solution needed for Palestine - Tánaiste
The Tánaiste has said a two-state solution is needed for the people of Palestine and Israel, as he expressed concerns over Mr Trump's proposal to "take over" Gaza.
Speaking on his way into Government Buildings, Simon Harris said that any idea of displacing the people of Gaza anywhere else would be in clear contradiction with UN Security Council resolutions.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs added that "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".
As he hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for crucial talks on the ceasefire with Hamas, Mr Trump doubled down on his call for Palestinians to move out of Gaza to Middle Eastern countries like Egypt and Jordan, despite the Palestinians and both nations flatly rejecting his suggestion.
"The US will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it, too. We'll own it," Mr Trump told a joint press conference yesterday with Mr Netanyahu.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has also "strongly rejected" the proposal.
"President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian leadership expressed their strong rejection of calls to seize the Gaza Strip and displace Palestinians outside their homeland," Mr Abbas's office said in a statement, adding that "legitimate Palestinian rights are not negotiable".
The Arab League said that a shock suggestion by President Trump would violate international law and cause further instability.
While "confident in the United States and its president's desire to achieve a just peace in the region", the Arab League's secretariat said President Trump's proposal promotes "the displacement of Palestinians, which is rejected on the Arab and international levels".
The 22-member regional bloc said that such a move, after more than 15 months of devastating war between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas, was "a recipe for instability" and would be in "violation of international law".
The United Arab Emirates foreign ministry said it categorically rejects any attempt to displace the Palestinians and deny them "inalienable rights".
Read More:
Trump vows to take over Gaza and create 'Riviera of the Middle East'
Breathtaking a gross understatement for Trump's Gaza plan
Palestinians will not be forcibly removed - Ambassador
The Palestinian Ambassador to Ireland has said that Palestinians in Gaza have shown their determination to remain in the territory and will not be forcibly removed.
Speaking on RTÉ's Six One, Dr Jilan Wahba Abdalmajid said: "This message that was sent by more than 300,000 people who returned from the southern part of Gaza after the ceasefire to the north part, even though they were not confident that they will find house or home, this was a strong message to the whole world that the Palestinian people will never give up their rights, and no one on this earth can uproot them from their homeland."
She said that Gaza remains part of Palestine as internationally recognised as well as the West Bank and East Jerusalem. She said that while some commentators have said President Trump might have made his remarks as part of a deal making or negotiating tactic this would not be appropriate when it comes to discussing the rights of nations and people.
"If you are in such a great position - the President of the United States. I mean, business deal is not how you handle the issues around the world. You cannot just make it as a business deal or business plan. It's there as international law, there is nations, there is human beings around the world that they have rights."
Dr Abdalmajid called on the international community to back up their expressions of support for the two state solution with actions.
Additional reporting Colman O'Sullivan, AFP
