Norway and Iceland sharply criticized Israel’s proposed evacuation of Palestinians from Gaza, warning that the move would constitute illegal forceful displacement under international law and threaten regional stability, Reuters reported Thursday.
“We are alarmed and appalled by what we have heard from the Israeli security cabinet about plans to step up even stronger the military campaign in Gaza and to do what they refer to as an evacuation,” said Norway’s Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide.
“It will amount to forceful displacement of the Palestinian people, first from north to south, and potentially out of the country. This is clearly illegal in international law,” he continued. “It will undermine the hope for a Palestinian state … [and be] a recipe for more bloodshed.”
The condemnation comes as part of a broader joint stance by a group of Western European countries – including Norway, Iceland, Ireland, Spain, Slovenia, and Luxembourg – who have publicly opposed Israel’s recent decision to intensify military operations in Gaza.
Israel’s Security Cabinet this week approved a plan that may involve the full seizure of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million people, as well as expanded control over aid deliveries, which have already been severely restricted since March.
Iceland’s Foreign Minister Thorgerdur Katrin Gunnarsdottir emphasized the urgency of de-escalation and humanitarian access. “What is needed more urgently than ever is a resumption of a ceasefire and the unconditional release of all hostages,” she said.
Iceland was the first Western European country to recognize Palestine as a state in 2011.
The United States and Israel have reportedly discussed the possibility of Washington leading a temporary post-war administration in Gaza, with the U.S. administration of Iraq after the 2003 invasion cited as a potential model.
Norway, which played a key role in brokering the Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization in the early 1990s, has more recently been involved in supporting Arab-led efforts for a post-war political solution for Gaza.
Barth Eide rejected the idea of a U.S.-led administration similar to Iraq’s, saying, “The authority that they [the US] set up in Iraq after the Iraq war, to put it very carefully, is not universally recognised as a very good idea. That was not successful.”
He instead reiterated the need for unified Palestinian leadership: “A Palestinian governance that will be in charge of both Gaza and the West Bank.”
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