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UN and Switzerland against forced displacement of Palestinians

UN and Switzerland against forced displacement of Palestinians
UN and Switzerland against forced displacement of Palestinians Keystone-SDA

The UN and the Swiss government are opposed to any forced displacement of Palestinians, as proposed by US President Donald Trump in the Gaza Strip. The voices of reason must prevail, said the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva on Wednesday.

Any annexation of the West Bank or forced evacuation of the Gaza Strip “could threaten the peace and security of Palestinians and Israelis, as well as that of the region”, Volker Türk told the Human Rights Council. “We must resist any normalisation of illegal attitudes,” he added.

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The forced displacement of populations is “prohibited by international humanitarian law”, said a representative of the Swiss mission to the UN in Geneva. Like the UN High Commissioner, the Swiss government is also very concerned about the intensification of violence and the destruction of infrastructure in the West Bank. In its view, this is exacerbated by the attitude of Israeli settlers.

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Both Türk and the Swiss government add that the parties to the conflict must “fully” implement the January ceasefire agreement. Hamas and Israel must negotiate the second phase of this arrangement.

The UN High Commissioner repeated his demands for the release of all Israeli hostages, as well as arbitrary Palestinian detainees. The representative of the Swiss mission said she was “alarmed” by the images of Hamas handing over the remains of hostages, and by the recent bus explosions in Israel.

Adapted from French by DeepL/ac

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