Washington, DC \u2013 Donald Trump has been claiming credit for the ceasefire deal that halted the war in Gaza, but the United States president\u2019s proposal to forcibly displace the Palestinians in the territory risks torpedoing the agreement, experts say.<\/p>\n
Trump repeatedly called this week for Gaza to be depopulated \u2014 a push that rights groups say would amount to ethnic cleansing \u2014 and for the US to \u201ctake over\u201d the Palestinian territory.<\/p>\n
Leaders across the world have warned that uprooting Palestinians from Gaza would destabilise the entire Middle East. More immediately, Trump\u2019s comments could derail the push towards an enduring end to the fighting in the territory.<\/p>\n
\u201cPresident Trump\u2019s completely outrageous and outlandish calls for the ethnic cleansing of more than two million Palestinian people from Gaza severely undermines the chances for the continuation of the ceasefire,\u201d said Josh Ruebner, a lecturer at Georgetown University\u2019s Justice and Peace programme.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians was not in any\u00a0ceasefire agreement<\/a>, and by Trump putting that option on the table, he stands to wreck the very fragile process.\u201d<\/p>\n The ceasefire came into effect on January 19, a day before Trump took office for a second term. But the US president has argued that his negotiating efforts, led by Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, were instrumental to sealing the deal.<\/p>\n