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Norway on Friday rejected Israel’s argument that countries opposed to its actions in Gaza should take in displaced Palestinians, stressing that the forced transfer of civilians is prohibited under international law.
In response to an Anadolu email, Norway’s Deputy Foreign Minister Andreas Kravik noted that Palestine is the homeland of the Palestinian people.
“The Palestinian people have a fundamental, independent right to self-determination and their own state,” he said, adding that this was the basis for the UN Partition Plan in 1947, after which Israel was recognized by Norway and a number of other countries in 1949.
Kravik added that this stance on Palestinian self-affirmation is confirmed in several UN resolutions as well as the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on Thursday said nations such as Spain, Ireland, Norway, and others, which he alleged have made “false accusations and claims against Israel for their actions in Gaza,” are legally obliged to allow Gazans to enter their territory. The three countries recognized the state of Palestine last May, and have criticized Israel’s war on the enclave.
But Kravik rejoined: “The forced transfer of civilians from occupied territories to other countries is prohibited under international law.”
Spain and Ireland also criticized Katz’s controversial comment, stressing that the objective must be the safe return of the people of Palestine to their homes.
The controversy follows US President Donald Trump’s widely condemned remarks that the “US will take over the Gaza Strip” advocating a permanent resettlement of Palestinians outside Gaza.
“The US will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too,” he told a news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Forcibly displacing a population without justification under international law constitutes a war crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
A Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement took effect on Jan. 19, suspending Israel’s genocidal war on the enclave that has killed over 47,000 Palestinians – mostly women and children – and injured over 111,000 since Oct. 7, 2023.
Israel’s war on Gaza has left the besieged enclave in ruins, with half of its housing damaged or destroyed and nearly 2 million people displaced amid severe shortages of sanitation, medical supplies, food, and clean water.
In November, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, citing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Separately, Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice.
