United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres looks on as he speaks to the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People at U.N. headquarters in New York City, U.S., February 5, 2025. -- Photo: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
United Nations, United States, Feb 5, 2025 (AFP) - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will warn against "ethnic cleansing" in Gaza over US President Donald Trump's suggestion Palestinians could be removed from the coastal territory, his spokesman said.
Trump, in a White House news conference on Tuesday alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, proposed "long-term ownership" of Gaza by the United States.
The extraordinary remarks came after he has repeatedly called in recent days for the territory's residents to move to Jordan or Egypt.
"The secretary-general will say that in the search for solutions, we must not make the problem worse," spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters in a preview to Guterres's speech.
"It is vital that we stay true to the bedrock of international law. It is essential to avoid any form of ethnic cleansing. And, of course, he will reaffirm the two state solution," he said.
Asked if the UN chief's intervention was in response to Trump, Dujarric said: "I think that would be a fair assumption."
"Any forced displacement of people is tantamount to ethnic cleansing," he added.
Even with large parts of 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.
Trump on Tuesday floated the idea that a rebuilt Gaza would become the "Riviera of the Middle East." - AFP
