UN Experts Condemn President Trump's Threats to Annex Gaza and Deport Palestinians

According to the experts, Israeli military attacks in Gaza have resulted in over 48,100 Palestinian deaths and 110,000 injuries, the majority of which are women and children.

United Nations experts today strongly condemned alarming threats made by U.S. President Donald Trump regarding plans to "take over" Gaza, forcibly deport its Palestinian population, and utilize military force if necessary.

"Such blatant violations by a major power would break the global taboo on military aggression and embolden other predatory countries to seize foreign territories, with devastating consequences for peace and human rights globally," the experts stated.

They emphasized that implementing the U.S. proposal would violate the most fundamental principles of the international order and the United Nations Charter established in 1945—a framework the U.S. itself helped create after the Second World War and the Holocaust to promote global peace. "It would return the world to the dark days of colonial conquest," they warned.

The experts underscored the illegality of invading and annexing foreign territory by force, forcibly deporting its population, and depriving the Palestinian people of their inalienable right to self-determination, including retaining Gaza within a sovereign Palestinian state.

"Such violations would replace the international rule of law and the stability it brings with the lawless 'rule of the strongest,'" they continued. "International law aims to prevent predatory countries from violently colonizing foreign lands and subjugating their populations, which inevitably leads to gross human rights violations."

Drawing historical parallels, the experts highlighted that "over half a century of Israeli occupation of Palestine has not brought peace or security to either side. A U.S. occupation would be similarly ruinous, fueling perpetual war, death, and destruction."

They pointed out that the mass deportation of civilians from occupied territory has been recognized as a war crime under the Geneva Conventions of 1949. This framework was established to prevent atrocities similar to Nazi Germany's mass expulsions during World War II. Today, such actions are also considered crimes against humanity.

"The U.S. proposal would accelerate the forced displacement of Palestinians from their lands, a process that began during the 1947-48 Nakba," they said. This ongoing displacement has included home demolitions, evictions, destruction and theft of natural resources, and the illegal construction of Israeli colonial settlements.

The experts recalled President Trump's previous term, during which he illegally recognized Israel's annexations of East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights—moves widely rejected by the International Court of Justice, the United Nations General Assembly, the Security Council, and the overwhelming majority of countries worldwide.

"If the U.S. President is genuinely concerned for the welfare of Palestinians," the experts suggested, "the U.S. should broker a lasting ceasefire, resume funding to UNRWA, compensate Palestinians for damage caused by U.S.-supplied weapons to Israel, and end arms transfers. It should also pressure Israel to fund reconstruction efforts, provide reparations for violations, pursue accountability for perpetrators of international crimes, and meaningfully support Palestinian statehood."

Additionally, they urged the United States to back multilateral bodies that safeguard human rights in Palestine, such as the Human Rights Council and the International Criminal Court, which also serve U.S. national interests in liberty and justice.

According to the experts, Israeli military attacks in Gaza have resulted in over 48,100 Palestinian deaths and 110,000 injuries, the majority of which are women and children. Approximately 85% of Gaza's population—around 1.9 million people—have been rendered homeless and deprived of adequate food, water, and essential services. The attacks have also severely damaged or destroyed most housing, agricultural, and public infrastructure, leaving the environment devastated.

"All countries that value human rights and the international rule of law should resolutely oppose the U.S. President's illegal threats," the experts concluded. "The world must never again accept a lawless global order dominated by brute force that endangers us all."