‘Crime Against Humanity’: Hamas Responds to Trump Plan to Take Over Gaza and Displace All Palestinians
(AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)
Hamas rejected President Donald Trump’s proposal to forcibly remove Gaza’s population and bring the territory under US control, condemning the suggestion as “a crime against humanity” and vowing that they “will not allow these plans to pass.”
Standing beside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a White House press conference Tuesday, Trump declared that the US would “take over” Gaza and that Palestinians there would have “no choice but to leave” in an unprecedented move that has not been seriously discussed before.
Neighboring Egypt and Jordan have already rejected the idea of taking in Gaza’s roughly 2 million residents, while several other Arab states also voiced fierce opposition.
Gaza has been devastated by months of Israeli military operations that followed Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, in which they killed more than 1,200 Israelis and took 250 people hostage.
Fox News journalist Trey Yingst reported Wednesday that Hamas, the proscribed terrorist organization that has ruled Gaza since 2007, issued a statement to the network about Trump’s proposal.
“What President Trump stated about his intention to displace the residents of the Gaza Strip outside it and the United States’ control over the Strip by force is a crime against humanity,” the senior Hamas official told Fox News.
The official characterized Trump’s plan as a continuation of the previous administration’s support for Israel’s military campaign, arguing that “no upcoming administration will succeed” in achieving forced displacement.
The group reiterated its demand for “urgent regional and international action” to counter what it described as “malicious plans” and called on the U.S. to ensure Israel implements the terms of the latest ceasefire agreement “without procrastination or manipulation.”
“Any manipulation in implementing the agreement may cause it to collapse,” the Hamas official warned.
Read the statement in full below:
What President Trump stated about his intention to displace the residents of the Gaza Strip outside it and the United States’ control over the Strip by force is a crime against humanity, and a reinforcement of the law of the jungle at the international level, and we consider it an interference in a topic which should not be of his concern, and accordingly we emphasize the following:
First: Over the course of 15 months, the previous administration tried to displace the residents of the Gaza Strip with its unlimited support, especially militarily, for Netanyahu and his fascist government in carrying out genocide against our people, and failed to achieve this goal in the face of our people’s steadfastness and adherence to their homeland. Hence, with the previous administration failing to accomplish, no upcoming administration will succeed in implementing.
Second: Gaza is in urgent need of comprehensive reconstruction plans after the systematic destruction caused by the aggression against it during 15 months, but the problem of reconstruction is not in the presence of the Palestinian people on their land, but rather in the continuation of the Zionist occupation and the stifling siege of the Gaza Strip for more than 17 years with American support.
Third: We demand urgent regional and international action to put an end to these malicious plans, because any attempts to implement such plans will destabilize security in the region and beyond.
Fourth: We demand that the mediators, especially the United States, oblige the occupation to implement the ceasefire agreement in its three stages without procrastination or manipulation, as we are committed to implementing the agreement as long as the occupation commits to it, and any manipulation in implementing the agreement may cause it to collapse.
