United Nations, Feb 6 (IANS) United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has spoken out against "ethnic cleansing" in Gaza after US President Donald Trump suggested ousting Palestinians living there to neighbouring countries. "It is essential to avoid any form of ethnic cleansing," Guterres said on Wednesday. "It is vital to stay true to the bedrock of international law," he said at a meeting of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. Asked if it can be seen as a response to Trump's proposal, Guterres's Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said, "I think that would be a fair assumption."

Trump said on Tuesday that "we just clean out" Gaza and send the Palestinians to Egypt and Jordan. The US should take over Gaza to redevelop the area leveled by Israel's bombing with the possibility of deploying US troops, he added. Guterres said "We must work toward preserving the unity, contiguity, and integrity of the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the recovery and reconstruction of Gaza". "International law must be respected, and accountability ensured," he added.

Ethnic cleansing is against international law and under some interpretations can be considered a crime against humanity. An international criminal tribunal set up in 1993 by the Security Council with the backing of the US convicted Serbian leaders of war crimes who participated in ethnic cleansing. Palestine's Permanent Observer Riyad Mansour said that Palestinians in Gaza did not want to move anywhere else. He said Gaza is "part of our homeland, and we don't have a homeland other than the state of Palestine. So, therefore, we are not looking for other homelands or other countries".

In a dig at Trump who claimed that his proposal was to help the people of Gaza, Mansour said, "For those who want us to have a happy place and safe place, we will be delighted to return to our homes inside the State of Israel. This is where we originally were, you know, kicked from." At the creation of Israel in 1948, several hundred thousand Palestinians were forced out of their homes in what became the state of Israel.

Mansour thanked the countries that have condemned the Trump proposal, especially King Abdullah of Jordan and President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt who were directed by Trump to take the people of Gaza, and Saudi leaders who have an important role in the region. Senegal's Permanent Representative Coly Seck, who is the chair of the Palestinian Rights Committee, said "enemies of peace" were trying to "exacerbate the already difficult situation on the ground".

/IANS