U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to offer Gazans the opportunity to relocate while the U.S., alongside international partners, rebuilds Gaza is “absolutely legal,” according to international human rights lawyer Arsen Ostrovsky.
TRUMP’S GAZA RELOCATION PLAN
(קרדיט: ILTV)
Speaking to ILTV News, he said, “Einstein's famous definition is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. And for many, many years, including since October 7, the international community at large has had the same failing strategy with respect to Gaza that essentially allows Hamas to remain in power, and that we know is simply unacceptable.”
Ostrovsky emphasized that this would not constitute forcible transfer, which is prohibited under international law.
"What President Trump has spoken about is the intention to create, essentially, a set of circumstances and conditions to allow Gazans to voluntarily choose to move to conditions that are better elsewhere," Ostrovsky explained.
He went a step further, arguing that those insisting Gazans must stay in Gaza—despite Hamas remaining in power—could be the ones violating international law.
"I would actually go one step further and suggest that those that are perhaps in fact guilty here of violating international law are the ones that are insisting that the Gazans stay there. Because by doing so, including whilst Hamas is still in power, they're essentially calling for the Gazans to stay in an active war zone and essentially be continued to be used as human shields by Hamas," Ostrovsky said.
Trump unveiled his plan earlier this week during a press conference with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. While Israelis have largely welcomed the proposal, the Arab world has outright rejected it.
The plan would involve working with neighboring and moderate Arab states to take in Gazan refugees while the United States rebuilds Gaza, a process that could take upwards of a decade.