UN Secretary General Warns Donald Trump Not To Conduct Ethnic Cleaning In Gaza

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. (Twitter/@antinooguterres)

JAKARTA - United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned US President Donald Trump on Wednesday to avoid ethnic cleansing in Gaza, following his proposal to remove Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and take over the Palestinian enclave.

"In finding a solution, we must not worsen the problem. It is very important to remain loyal to the basis of international law. It is very important to avoid all forms of ethnic cleansing," Secretary General Guterres said at a UN committee meeting.

"We must reaffirm the solution of the two countries," he said.

Although Secretary General Guterres did not mention President Trump or his proposal regarding Gaza in his speech before the Committee on the Implementation of Unrevocational Rights from the Palestinian People, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters earlier it would be a "fair assumption" to see the statement of Secretary General Guterres in response.

Earlier on Wednesday the Secretary-General of Guterres spoke with Jordanian King Abdullah about the situation in the region, Dujarric said.

Meanwhile, Palestinian envoy to the United Nations Riyad Mansour, appointed by the Palestinian Authority, told the committee King Abdullah would deliver a coordinated message to President Trump of Arab countries as he visits Washington next week.

"We have no country but Palestine. Gaza is a valuable part of it. We will not leave Gaza," said Mansour.

"There is no force on earth that can expel Palestinians from our ancestral homeland, including Gaza," he stressed.

"We want to rebuild it. We want to reunite it. And we ask all countries to help us in this effort," he explained.

"We are not looking for a homeland or other countries," said Mansour.

The United Nations has long supported the vision of two countries coexisting within safe and recognized boundaries. Palestine wants a state in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip, all territory captured by Israel in the 1967 war with neighboring Arab countries.

"Any lasting peace will require real, irreversible, and permanent progress towards a two-state solution, ending the occupation, and establishing an independent Palestinian state, with Gaza as part of its integral," said Secretary General Guterres.

"A sovereign Palestinian state coexisting with Israel in peace and security is the only sustainable solution to Middle East stability," he stressed.

Israel withdrew troops and settlers from Gaza in 2005. The territory has been controlled by Hamas since 2007, but is still considered under Israeli occupation by the United Nations. Israel and Egypt control access.