Arab League calls for UN to prevent Israeli plan to expel Gazans

CAIRO – 13 October 2023: The Arab League sent an urgent letter to the United Nations, calling for preventing an Israeli plan to expel the people of Gaza amid the ongoing military operations.

Secretary-General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit sent the letter to Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres, calling on him to “use his political and moral weight to prevent a new war crime that Israel plans to commit as part of its bloody campaign against the Gaza Strip.”

This campaign includes demanding all residents of the northern Gaza Strip to immediately relocate to the south, Aboul Gheit noted.

"This new crime has exceeded all reasonable limits and will lead to immeasurable suffering for our Palestinian brothers and sisters in the Gaza Strip,” the letter read.

Moreover, the Israeli move represents a blatant violation of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits the occupying force from forcibly transferring or deporting any persons protected under the occupation, the letter noted.

Aboul Gheit appealed to Guterres and the Security Council member states to condemn this “insane Israeli endeavor to forcibly transfer the population and condemn it decisively and clearly.”

He called for working diligently with all influential parties to halt the implementation of this Israeli plan, warning that such move would “forever tarnish the international community's reputation.”

Separately, Jordan has warned against attempts of expelling Palestinians from Gaza to Egypt and exporting the current crisis to the neighboring countries.

Jordan added that all Arab countries have pledged collective action against any attempt to expel Palestinians from their homeland in an emergency meeting of foreign ministers on Wednesday.

Egypt has also voiced rejection of potential attempts to force Palestinians to leave their lands toward Sinai, warning that this will mean a termination for the Palestinian cause.

In a speech at the graduation ceremony of Egypt’s military students on Thursday, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi stressed that Palestinians have to remain steadfast and present on their own land.