President Donald Trump's proposal to relocate 1.5 million Palestinians from Gaza to neighboring countries like Egypt and Jordan is not merely misguided—it is a calculated affront to international law and the principles of justice. Trump's remark, made last Saturday, about "cleaning out" Gaza dangerously mimics historical patterns of ethnic cleansing and holds grave implications for an already dire humanitarian crisis.
If implemented, Trump's idea "would amount to an alarming escalation in the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people and exponentially increase their suffering," says Omar Shakir, the Israel and Palestine director at Human Rights Watch.
International humanitarian law unequivocally prohibits the forced transfer or deportation of populations under occupation. Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states: "Individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory to the territory of the Occupying Power or to that of any other country, occupied or not, are prohibited, regardless of their motive." Articles seven and eight of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court defines forcible transfer as a crime against humanity and a war crime. Moreover, such displacement undermines the foundational norms of international law.
Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, has rightly warned that the mass deportation of Palestinians "directly undermines resolving this conflict amid decades of a refugee crisis." He further emphasized that "every state is obligated to prevent war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide—each constituting atrocity crimes."
The United Nations echoed this stance, stating that the relocation of Palestinians from Gaza would not only violate their human rights but also erode the possibility of a two-state solution envisioned by decades of diplomacy. Egyptian Ambassador to the U.S. Motaz Zahran has previously decried such proposals as contrary to "legal obligations of an occupying power" and emphasized that stripping Palestinians of their homeland would ignite further regional instability.
The devastation in Gaza is staggering. Over 47,000 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians, have been directly killed during the conflict. The destruction of 70 percent of Gaza's infrastructure has left 1.9 million people displaced, with nowhere to return. Trump's plan, framed as a temporary relocation, ignores the reality that refugee camps often become permanent holding zones for displaced populations, as evidenced by the plight of Palestinians since 1948.
As Abdullah Al-Arian of Georgetown University in Qatar observed, Trump's words "should be taken seriously in part because we have seen this specific demand being made for over the last year and a half." He further highlights that such displacement is part of a broader attempt to erase Palestinian identity, noting that some Israeli officials had indicated "very early on in the course of the war" a desire to "ethnically cleanse" as much of the Palestinian territory as possible.
While Trump's statements may seem far-fetched, history has shown that ideas once dismissed as outlandish can, over time, become mainstream policy discussions. The gradual normalization of forced displacement rhetoric is deeply concerning, particularly given past comments from Trump's inner circle. Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and former senior adviser, previously referred to Gaza's "waterfront property" as a valuable real estate asset, raising serious questions about whether the push for Palestinian removal is motivated by economic exploitation rather than humanitarian or security concerns. By framing Gaza's land as an opportunity rather than a home for millions, Kushner's remarks, alongside Trump's, expose a troubling pattern of erasing Palestinian ties to their homeland in favor of an agenda that prioritizes Israeli control. If such discourse is not challenged forcefully, it risks becoming an accepted part of policy discussions, making its eventual implementation far more likely.
Both Egypt and Jordan have categorically rejected Trump's proposal. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi previously labeled such an idea as a "second Nakba," referencing the mass expulsion of Palestinians during the creation of Israel in 1948. He has warned that such actions would jeopardize Egypt's national security and its peace treaty with Israel.
Jordan, already home to 2.3 million registered Palestinian refugees, has similarly rejected the proposal. Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi reaffirmed the kingdom's firm and unwavering stance against displacement, stating, "Jordan is for Jordanians and Palestine is for Palestinians."
As the occupying power, Israel bears the primary responsibility for the welfare of Gaza's population under international law. Displacing Palestinians to neighboring countries effectively absolves Israel of its obligations while enabling a long-term strategy of annexation. This is not conjecture—far-right Israeli officials, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, have openly supported policies to transfer Palestinians to other countries to facilitate settlement expansion.
The plight of Palestinian refugees offers a cautionary tale. Since the 1948 Nakba, nearly 6 million Palestinian refugees have been trapped in statelessness, many living in overcrowded camps across the Middle East. As history has shown, displacement is not a solution—it perpetuates cycles of poverty, instability, and violence.
Refugee camps are often sites of profound human suffering. The United Nations' policy discouraging camps acknowledges that they can entrench displacement for decades. For Palestinians, they would mean generations of hardship and the effective loss of any right to return to their ancestral homeland.
Trump's proposal is not about peace—it is about erasure. Moving Palestinians to Egypt and Jordan only advances Israel's longstanding agenda of annexation and demographic engineering. The only just path forward is one that upholds international law, ensures the right of return for displaced Palestinians, and holds Israel accountable for its responsibilities as an occupying power.
As the international community, we must demand an immediate cessation of hostilities and a robust commitment to justice. This includes permanently ending the siege on Gaza, rebuilding its infrastructure, and advancing toward a genuine two-state solution. Anything less is complicity in the ethnic cleansing of a people.
Palestinian voices—not proposals that perpetuate their displacement—must guide the future of Gaza. As Abu Yahya Rashid, a displaced Gazan, poignantly stated, "This land is ours and the property of our ancestors throughout history. We will not leave it except as corpses."
Faisal Kutty is a lawyer, law professor, and regular contributor to The Toronto Star.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
