China's Foreign Ministry says it categorically opposes forcible eviction of Gaza residents

China opposes the forced relocation of Gaza Strip residents to neighboring Arab countries, as proposed by US President Donald Trump. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at a briefing on Wednesday, Feb. 5.

"China has always believed that the principle of 'Palestine is ruled by Palestinians' is the basic principle of post-war governance in Gaza," Lin Jian said at the briefing, his words quoted by RIA Novosti.

The diplomat expressed hope that all parties interested in ending the conflict, will use the ceasefire agreement as an opportunity to put the Palestinian issue back on the path of political settlement. It is based on the "Two States for Two Peoples" plan, which envisions the establishment of an Arab state of Palestine between the Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea alongside Israel. Only in this way can lasting peace in the Middle East be achieved, Li Keqiang emphasized.

Trump has proposed taking over the Gaza Strip and evicting Palestinians. What the media is saying

Prior to that, on Feb. 4, Trump proposed resettling refugees from the Gaza Strip to more livable places. He told reporters that a hypothetical resettlement of Palestinians could take place in Egypt or Jordan (two countries that have repeatedly rejected the idea of accepting large numbers of Palestinian refugees) or in "other places" that "could be very beautiful, safe and nice."

On the same day, he said that the United States would take control of the Gaza Strip. The American leader specified that the state would own the territory and be responsible for its reconstruction. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) pointed out on February 5 that Trump, comparing Gaza to a demolition site, repeated his earlier remarks that millions of Palestinians should leave the territory and go to neighboring countries, perhaps permanently.

That said, in the summer of 2024, Trump called the Gaza Strip prime real estate in a conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The situation in the Middle East escalated on the morning of October 7, 2023, when the Palestinian radical movement Hamas launched a massive rocket attack from the Gaza Strip into Israel. Israel began retaliatory strikes the same day.