The Arab Group at the UN on Friday called for the creation of a “Palestinian Riviera” in Gaza and rejected the displacement of its residents proposed by US President Donald Trump.
Mr Trump suggested last week that the US would “take over” the Gaza Strip, relocate the roughly two million Palestinians living there to countries such as Egypt and Jordan and redevelop the enclave into the “Riviera of the Middle East”. The proposal has received international backlash, particularly in the Arab world.
“This is not acceptable, whether it is against the people of Palestine or any other state,” Tariq Al Bannai, Kuwait's UN envoy, told reporters in New York, in his capacity as the current chairman of the Arab Group.
“We, the Arab countries, want to see a Riviera – a Palestinian Gaza Riviera in the independent and internationally recognised state of Palestine.”
For the Palestinian community, the notion of forced relocation brings back memories of the Nakba, the mass exodus they experienced during the establishment of Israel in 1948.
“We will not accept that whatever will happen will be at the expense of the Palestinian people. We paid more than enough, in terms of those who were killed in the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank,” said Riyad Mansour, Palestine’s UN envoy.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday that Washington was eager to hear new proposals on Gaza from Arab governments but that, “right now the only plan – they don't like it – but the only plan is the Trump plan”.
Mr Al Bannai also highlighted the “alarming Israeli expanded aggression” in the West Bank and warned that such actions violate international law and “must stop immediately”.
He urged the 15-member Security Council to uphold and enforce the principles of a resolution that calls for an immediate and complete ceasefire; the return of Palestinian civilians to their homes and neighbourhoods in all areas of Gaza; the safe and effective distribution of humanitarian assistance at scale; and the rejection of any attempt at demographic or territorial change in the Gaza Strip.
Regional states, including the UAE and Saudi Arabia, have repeatedly called for a Palestinian state, existing alongside Israel.