UN warns Gaza deportations ‘strictly prohibited’

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk speaks during a press conference in Damascus, Syria, January 15, 2025. (Louai Beshara / AFP)
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk speaks during a press conference in Damascus, Syria, January 15, 2025. (Louai Beshara / AFP)

UN rights chief Volker Turk insists that deporting people from occupied territory is strictly prohibited, after President Donald Trump’s shock proposal for the United States to take over Gaza and resettle its people.

“It is crucial that we move towards the next phase of the ceasefire, to release all hostages and arbitrarily detained prisoners, end the war and reconstruct Gaza, with full respect for international humanitarian law and international human rights law,” Turk says in a statement.

Many of the prisoners being released by Israel have been convicted for their part in deadly terror attacks.

“The suffering of people in the occupied Palestinian territories and Israel has been unbearable. Palestinians and Israelis need peace and security, on the basis of full dignity and equality.”

Turk, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, says international law was “very clear.”

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