“The UK government must now make clear that it rejects this path, will oppose these plans in every relevant arena and end its complicit support for Israel’s violations of the rights of the Palestinian people.”
Ben Jamal, Director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign
By the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC)
PSC utterly condemns US President Donald Trump’s illegal plans for the mass ethnic cleansing of 2.3 million Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. In a press conference in which he was accompanied by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court, Trump has said that “the US will take over the Gaza Strip” and “own it”, refusing to rule out sending US troops to occupy the territory.
This is a grotesque plan that, if enacted, would directly contravene the Geneva Convention, which forbids the forcible transfer of populations. Trump’s proposals are a blueprint for a crime of historic proportions, and form part of an all-out assault on the rights of the Palestinian people, including their right to self-determination. The plan is, however, not new. It echoes those we know have been discussed by Israeli officials for many decades. In October 2023, Israel’s Ministry of Intelligence drew up a proposal for the forcible expulsion of Gaza’s residents to Egypt.
For more than a year, Israel and its supporters have denied that the true aim of the genocidal assault on Gaza, which has killed over 61,000 people, has been the destruction of the Palestinian population, and denial of their rights including the right to self-determination. Backed and supported by the USA for its own strategic interests, that objective has now been made explicit.
70% of Palestinians in Gaza are already refugees, driven by Israel from elsewhere in historic Palestine in previous rounds of ethnic cleansing. The situation for the population remains dire after 16 months of genocide, with 92% of housing damaged or destroyed, and severe shortages of food, water, fuel and medicine. In the illegally occupied West Bank, Israel is escalating its attacks, including large-scale invasions of Palestinian refugee camps. In the past 2 weeks, at least 25 Palestinians have been killed in Jenin, while over 100 homes have been destroyed, and over 30,000 displaced.
As they have done for over 76 years, the Palestinian people will resist all attempts to force them from their homes and land. In Britain, we must escalate our solidarity, including by building for the upcoming national demonstration on Saturday 15 February, marching from Whitehall to the US Embassy.
The UK government must immediately condemn Trump’s monstrous proposals, affirm its commitment to the rights of the Palestinian people as enshrined in international law, including their right to self-determination. We also call on the government to defend and support UNRWA, and introduce meaningful sanctions to hold Israel accountable for its crimes, including through a comprehensive two-way arms embargo.
Ben Jamal, PSC Director, said:
“This is the fundamental litmus test for Keir Starmer’s government. History will judge how it responds at this moment. For months he has followed a line of staying close to US power and treating Israel as a liberal democracy, even as the world’s highest Court investigates it for the crime of genocide and its leader is wanted for crimes including using starvation as a weapon of war. Now we see where this leads. He stands silent as Trump and Netanyahu reveal a vision that has always been clear – extending Israel’s rule over all of historic Palestine, and completing the task of expelling Palestinians who continue to fight for their right to self-determination and freedom. The UK government must now make clear that it rejects this path, will oppose these plans in every relevant arena and end its complicit support for Israel’s violations of the rights of the Palestinian people.
We call on all who share our commitment to a world based on principles of rights, justice and the universal application of International law to be on the streets with us on February 15th when we march from Whitehall to the US Embassy.”
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- This article is taken from a press release by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) on 5th February 2025.
