What International Law Says About Trump’s Proposal to Remove Palestinians From Gaza

President Trump’s proposal for the United States to take over Gaza and remove some two million Palestinians who live there would unquestionably be a severe violation of international law, experts say. As further details of his proposal emerge, the list of potential violations becomes even clearer.

In a Fox News interview on Monday, Mr. Trump said that under his plan, Gaza’s Palestinians would not be allowed to return to the territory, a violation in its own right of an important principle of international law, as well as a component of other international crimes.

His latest comments undermine his aides’ attempts to walk back his initial proposal by claiming he was actually suggesting a temporary, voluntary evacuation of Gaza’s population — a scenario that could have been legally defensible.

“Trump is just casually making major international crimes into policy proposals,” said Janina Dill, the co-director of the Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict. “He just normalizes violating, or proposing to violate, the absolute bedrock principles of international law.”

Forced deportation

The forced deportation or transfer of a civilian population is a violation of international humanitarian law, a war crime and a crime against humanity.