President Trump’s proposal to displace the Palestinian population of Gaza as part of a massive “redevelopment” project, spelled out during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Feb. 4, Tuesday night, has been the target of nearly universal international opprobrium.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, whose role is critical to solving the regional crisis, not only rejected Trump’s proposal to displace the population of Gaza, but also his suggestion that Riyadh might be willing to give up the commitment to a State of Palestine in return for normalization with Israel. The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a statement dated Feb. 5, affirmed that the Kingdom’s position in the establishment of a Palestinian State “is firm and unwavering.” Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in a speech delivered on Sept. 18, 2024, “emphasized that Saudi Arabia will continue its relentless efforts to establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and will not establish diplomatic relations with Israel without that.”
The statement further rejected “any infringement on the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, whether through Israeli settlement policies, land annexation, or attempts to displace the Palestinian people from their land.”
The Kingdom “emphasizes that this unwavering position is non-negotiable and not subject to compromises,” the statement concludes. “Achieving lasting and just peace is impossible without the Palestinian people obtaining their legitimate rights in accordance with international law, as has been previously clarified to both the former and current U.S. administrations.”
Trump’s plan for Gaza “is nonsense” wrote Francesca Albanese, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, in a posting on X, but “which nonetheless must be taken very seriously. President Trump has basically declared his intention to commit the international crime of forced displacement and resort to unlawful use of force against the Palestinian people and their right to self-determination, in violation of the UN Charter—amounting to aggression,” Albanese continued. “The 191 members of the UN who still have an interest in protecting themselves from this madness, better recover from their paralysis and stand united against this imperialist lawlessness.”
