UNITED NATIONS — United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told President Donald Trump on Wednesday (Feb 5) to avoid ethnic cleansing in Gaza after the US leader proposed that Palestinians resettle elsewhere and the US take over the war-torn enclave.
"In the search for solutions, we must not make the problem worse. It is vital to stay true to the bedrock of international law. It is essential to avoid any form of ethnic cleansing," Guterres told a previously planned meeting of a UN committee.
"We must reaffirm the two-state solution," he said.
While Guterres did not mention Trump or his Gaza proposal during his address to the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters earlier that it would be a "fair assumption" to view Guterres' remarks as a response.
Earlier on Wednesday Guterres spoke with Jordan's King Abdullah about the situation in the region, Dujarric said.
Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour, appointed by the Palestinian Authority, told the committee that Abdullah would deliver a coordinated message to Trump from Arab states when he visits Washington next week.
"We have no country except Palestine. Gaza is a precious part of it. We are not going to leave Gaza," Mansour said. "There is no power on earth that can remove the Palestinian people from our ancestral homeland, including Gaza."
"We want to rebuild it. We want to put it back together. And we ask all countries to help us in this endeavour," he said. "We are not looking for other homelands or other countries."
The UN has long endorsed a vision of two states living side by side within secure and recognised borders. Palestinians want a state in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip, all territory captured by Israel in a 1967 war with neighboring Arab states.
"Any durable peace will require tangible, irreversible and permanent progress toward the two-state solution, an end to the occupation and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, with Gaza as an integral part," Guterres said.
"A viable, sovereign Palestinian state living side-by-side in peace and security with Israel is the only sustainable solution for Middle East stability," he said.
Israel withdrew soldiers and settlers from Gaza in 2005. The territory has been ruled by Hamas since 2007 but is still considered to be under Israeli occupation by the UN. Israel and Egypt control access.
A deadly attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel on Oct 7, 2023, set off a war that has since laid waste to most of the territory. A deal on a ceasefire and the release of hostages held by Hamas went into force on Jan 19.
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