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Published 18:27 IST, February 5th 2025

France Reiterates Opposition To Any Forced Displacement Of Gaza's Palestinians

The remarks come after U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal that the United States "take over" the Gaza Strip and permanently resettle its Palestinian residents.

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israeli attack in gaza
Gaza | Image: AP

France reiterated on Tuesday its rejection of any forced displacement of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, warning that this was a "subject of imbalance in the Middle East."

The remarks come after U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal that the United States "take over" the Gaza Strip and permanently resettle its Palestinian residents.

It was swiftly rejected and denounced on Wednesday by American allies and adversaries alike.

Speaking to reporters after the cabinet meeting, French government spokesperson Sophie Primas said France is "sticking to its policy: No population displacements."

Trump’s suggestion came at a White House news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who smiled several times as the president detailed a plan to build new settlements for Palestinians outside the Gaza Strip, and for the U.S. to take "ownership" in redeveloping the war-torn territory into "the Riviera of the Middle East."

Negotiations to sustain the tenuous ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas — and secure the liberation of the remaining living hostages in captivity there, including at least one American — are set to begin in earnest this week.

Trump’s audacious proposal to relocate roughly 1.8 million Palestinians from the land they have called home, and look to as part of a future state, could completely upend those negotiations.

In response to Trump's comments, the French foreign minister said earlier in the day in a written communique that displacing Gaza's Palestinians ''would constitute a grave violation of international law, an attack on the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinians, a major threat to the two-state solution and a factor of major destabilisation for our close partners Egypt and Jordan as well as the entire region.''

It said France will mobilise for a two-state solution under the Palestinian Authority, and that "Hamas should be disarmed and have no part in the governance of this territory."

France also remains strongly opposed to settlements and "any unilateral annexation of the West Bank," it said.

Updated 18:27 IST, February 5th 2025