London, MINA – US President Donald Trump has declared to the world that he intends to commit a war crime in Gaza by displacing its Palestinian population, according to a leading genocide expert.
“Trump’s remarks were made “without conscience or compassion, as if the Palestinian people, including hundreds of thousands of children, mean nothing to him,” Maung Zarni, a renowned genocide expert, educator and human rights activist, told Anadolu Agency.
Trump first made the comments during a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who visited Washington last week despite a warrant from the International Criminal Court seeking his arrest for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Rejecting strong condemnation from world leaders, human rights activists and legal experts, Trump has doubled down on his controversial proposal, telling reporters on Sunday that the US remains “committed to buying and owning Gaza.”
For Zarni, Trump’s idea is a declaration “effectively committing a war crime.”
“It is outrageous that Trump is proposing to deport the entire Palestinian population to another country without having sovereign jurisdiction over them,” he said, describing the absurdity of the plan.
Zarni stressed that Trump’s proposal is not only illegal but also a continuation of historical colonialist policies rooted in white supremacist ideology.
He further criticized Trump for framing the idea as a so-called humanitarian effort.
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“He presented the proposal as if it came from his humanitarian conscience,” Zarni said, calling it a cynical attempt to justify ethnic cleansing.
Zarni argued that Trump’s statement of intent regarding Gaza should trigger an immediate response from the international community, particularly the UN Security Council.
“Under international humanitarian and criminal law, you cannot move a population that is under occupation,” he explained, referring to the fact that Palestine has been under Israeli occupation for nearly six decades now.
No matter how “powerful and imperialist” the US is, it remains part of the UN system and is bound by international law and treaties, he added.
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“The US is still a member of the Security Council,” Zarni stressed.
“At the very least, the Security Council should hold an emergency meeting to discuss why the heads of member states, particularly permanent member states, have openly declared their intention to commit war crimes. []
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
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