The New Jewish Narrative, a prominent American Jewish progressive organization, issued a statement on Wednesday denouncing US President Donald Trump's plan to seize the besieged Palestinian Gaza Strip and expel Palestinians from it.

“We are appalled and appalled by President Donald Trump’s reckless proposal that the United States participate in the forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza – a clear endorsement of ethnic cleansing,” said a statement from the organization, which represents the young American Jewish line supporting the Palestinian cause.

“This proposal is not only morally repugnant but also a flagrant violation of international law,” the statement said, adding, “Forcible displacement of the population (of Gaza) is a war crime. Any attempt to carry out such atrocities would be an unequivocal crime against humanity, further destabilizing an already devastated region and inflicting unimaginable suffering on millions of people.”

“President Trump’s manufactured concern about the humanitarian conditions in Gaza rings hollow,” the statement said. “On the same day he made these remarks, he signed an executive order reinforcing the ban that bars the United States from funding UNRWA, the largest provider of humanitarian assistance in the Strip. This comes in the same week that his administration destroyed USAID, which provides vital support to humanitarian and peacebuilding initiatives in the region. Taken together, these actions reveal the administration’s real agenda: not peace or stability, but annexation and exploitation.”

“There is a name for the forced displacement of a civilian population. It is ethnic cleansing, and it is a war crime,” said Hadar Suskind, chairman and CEO of New Jewish Narrative. “The Gaza Strip is not an opportunity for our real estate developer to enrich himself and his friends. It is home to two million Palestinian men, women, and children. We call on Congress to make clear that the United States will not continue this illegal and immoral act.”

Experts warn that Trump’s idea, if seriously pursued, would be the broadest and most costly commitment of U.S. military forces to the Middle East since the U.S. invasion and reconstruction of Iraq more than two decades ago. It would be a stunning reversal for a president who first ran for office in 2016 denouncing nations and vowing to extricate the United States from the Middle East.

Former US negotiator Aaron Miller, now at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, warns that the idea of taking over Gaza would push the United States into the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a way that presidents since Harry Truman have tried to avoid.

The United States has long supplied Israel with weapons, supported it diplomatically and financially, pushed for normalization agreements between Israel and some Arab states and tried to broker peace deals. Several hundred American troops have served as peacekeepers in the Sinai Peninsula for more than four decades, and former President Joe Biden twice ordered the U.S. Air Force and Navy to defend Israel last year against Iranian missile attacks. But American presidents have balked at deploying the large contingent of American ground troops in Israel or the Palestinian territories that would be needed to control Gaza. Even last year, when the U.S. military set up a makeshift, failed floating dock to deliver humanitarian supplies to Gaza, the Biden administration made sure American troops did not come ashore.