United Nations:
Palestinian militant group Hamas must have no role in the Gaza Strip, a group of European nations said Wednesday after a UN Security Council meeting on the territory’s future.
The meeting discussed a plan adopted Tuesday by Arab countries to rebuild Gaza and place it under the Palestinian Authority, an alternative to President Donald Trump’s plan for the United States to take control of the territory and resettle its residents elsewhere.
Hamas still rules Gaza, though the territory has been devastated by war since the group’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
Speaking on behalf of France, Britain, Denmark, Greece and Slovenia, French diplomat Jay Dharmadhikari said the final plan should neither allow Hamas to continue governing Gaza nor displace the Palestinians who live there.
“We are clear that any plan must have no role for Hamas, must ensure Israel’s security, must not displace Palestinians from Gaza,” said Dharmadhikari, France’s deputy permanent representative to the United Nations in New York.
It should also “support the unity of the West Bank and Gaza under the Palestinian Authority’s mandate,” he told journalists, referring to the body that partly controls the Israeli-occupied West Bank, run by Hamas rivals Fatah.
Arab League countries meeting in Cairo called Tuesday to unite Palestinians under the Palestine Liberation Organization, which does not include Hamas.
European countries are ready to support and further develop those plans, Dharmadhikari said.
He also urged Israel to immediately let humanitarian aid flow into Gaza on a massive scale, saying that point was “non-negotiable.”
Israel announced Sunday it was blocking aid deliveries to Gaza until Hamas accepts its terms for an extension of the fragile truce the two sides started on January 19.
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