Displacing Palestinians is a war crime

While the massive return of Gazans to the north of the Strip from its center and south continues, amidst large crowds and heartwarming scenes, and despite tens of thousands being certain that there are no homes or buildings suitable for living, the love of the homeland and the soil of Gaza is greater than anything else and mixes feelings of joy of return with sadness and grief as the search for the bodies of the martyrs begins under the rubble, as the opportunity to obtain a ceasefire and curb the Israeli aggression is in itself a gain for those seeking to rebuild, cling to the land, hold on to it and stand firm on its soil no matter the cost.

Despite all this, Western voices and mouthpieces, led by the United States, continue to follow Israeli desires to displace Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and settle them in a Western or Arab country. After the failure of the American attempt with Jordan and Egypt, the option of Indonesia appears as a new solution amidst a strange and suspicious insistence by President Trump, who seeks to deport two million Palestinians to the Asian country under the pretext that there is no security to live in Gaza.

Indonesia did well when Foreign Ministry spokesman Totok Roliensya Sumert denied that his country had received any offer from any party, including the United States, regarding the transfer of Palestinian refugees from Gaza to Indonesia, and stressed that the Indonesian government supports the reconstruction of Gaza in various ways without receiving Palestinian refugees on its territory.

The Foreign Minister did well when he announced that his country is ready to support the reconstruction of Gaza, increase the flow of aid, and send peacekeeping forces if the United Nations requests it. This is a civilized approach that our people respect. As for the suspicious calls for displacement, whatever their source, they are rejected and condemned, and the Palestinian people will confront them with all their strength.

We would also like to salute the countries of the region, including Egypt and Jordan, which rejected the idea of receiving Palestinian refugees, and affirmed their commitment to keeping the Palestinians on their land, as stated by Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, who said that “Jordan is for Jordanians, and Palestine is for Palestinians,” while Egypt stressed its rejection of any forced transfer of Palestinians.

In the latest episode of the Israeli targeting of this plan, Channel 7 published yesterday what the Chief of Staff of the Israeli army published regarding the Rafah crossing when he said: Israel will allow the residents of Gaza to leave the Rafah crossing to Egypt, but only in one direction, and that they will not be able to return to Gaza, where the story is completely consistent with the calls for voluntary displacement advocated by extremist ministers.

Taking such a crazy step would threaten the stability of the countries of the region, provoke widespread popular anger, and would certainly face strong resistance from the Arab countries and the Palestinians, who would fight it because it is an attempt at demographic change and ethnic cleansing.

Just as all previous attempts have failed, this step will collapse in the face of our people’s ambition and will. Even the recent attempts in Jenin and Tulkarm, through demolishing homes and expelling residents, will not deter our people from standing up to these conspiracies and fighting them forcefully, because displacement operations are war crimes that do not comply with any international or humanitarian law, and everyone must confront them firmly and forcefully and not allow them to pass.