Closing Summary
We are closing our live coverage today of Trump’s executive order to sanction the international criminal court (ICC), and other developments in the Middle East.
Below is a wrap of everything you might have missed:
Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing sanctions on the ICC. The order accuses the ICC of having “engaged in illegitimate and baseless actions” targeting the US and its “close ally” Israel, and said the court “abused its power” by issuing “baseless” arrest warrants targeting Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and its former defense minister, Yoav Gallant.
Amnesty International secretary general Agnès Callamard described the order as “reckless” and “a brutal step that seeks to undermine and destroy what the international community has painstakingly constructed over decades, if not centuries”.
Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, ordered the military to prepare plans to allow Palestinians “who wish to leave” Gaza to exit. Asked who should take the residents of Gaza, Katz said it should be countries who have opposed Israel’s military operations since the 7 October attacks. He also claimed that Spain, Ireland, and Norway, who all last year recognised a Palestinian state, are “legally obligated to allow any Gaza resident to enter their territories”.
Trump doubled down on his proposal to “take ownership” of Gaza amid widespread opposition. In a Truth Social post, Trump said the Palestinian territory would be “turned over” to the US by Israel after it concludes its military offensive against Hamas. Netanyahu, who is in Washington, said it is “worth listening carefully” to Trump’s proposal.
Countries around the world continued to come out in opposition to Trump’s plan to turn Gaza into a “Riviera of the Middle East” after the 2.3 million Palestinians living there were transferred to other countries. Trump’s proposal would “squash” the ceasefire and “incite a return of fighting”, Egypt’s foreign ministry said. Russia called Trump’s proposal “counterproductive” and accused him of fuelling “tension in the region”. China’s foreign ministry said Beijing opposed the forced transfer of people in Gaza. Pakistan said Trump’s plan was “deeply troubling and unjust”, adding that “Palestinian land belongs to Palestinian people”. Iran said it “categorically rejected and condemned” Trump’s proposal.
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said Palestinians in Gaza are “going to have to live somewhere else in the interim”. Rubio described Gaza as “not habitable”, in comments that appeared to walk back on Trump’s proposal about transferring Palestinians permanently to neighbouring countries. Rubio is reportedly planning to visit the Middle East later this month.
Israel said late on Thursday it had struck two sites in Lebanon that allegedly contained weapons of the Hezbollah group, in violation of a ceasefire deal. Israeli forces “conducted a precise strike in Lebanese territory on two military sites that contained Hezbollah weapons, which were in violation of the ceasefire agreement,” the army said in a post on X.
The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) warned that the agency faces an “existential threat” after Israel formally banned it from operating on its territory. Philippe Lazzarini also described Trump’s Gaza proposal as “totally unrealistic”, adding: “We are talking about forced displacement. Forced displacement is a crime, an international crime. It’s ethnic cleansing.”
Human Rights Watch warned that the Trump’s proposal could move the US “from being complicit in war crimes to direct perpetration of atrocities”. Forced or coerced displacement is a crime against humanity, illegal under the Geneva conventions, to which Israel and the US are signatories. “Governments should together make clear their strong opposition to Trump’s call for forced displacement in Gaza and take action to prevent further atrocities against the Palestinian people,” HRW Middle East and North Africa director Lama Fakih said.
At least 47,583 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli attacks since October 2023, according to the Palestinian health ministry on Thursday. The ministry’s latest daily update also said a total of 111,633 have now been injured.
Israel informed the United Nations human rights council (UNHRC) it is formally withdrawing from the body. Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Saar, said the decision was reached “in light of the ongoing and unrelenting institutional bias against Israel in the human rights council.
Back on Trump’s shocking vision for a “Riviera of the Middle East”, Egypt has been quietly lobbying against the plan, according to the Associated Press.
Egyptian president, Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, has not publicly responded to Trump’s stunning proposal that most of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million Palestinians be relocated and the United States take charge of rebuilding the territory.
But in a statement on Thursday, the Egyptian government rejected efforts to move Palestinians from Gaza as a “blatant violation” of international law that could undercut ceasefire talks and threaten Middle East relations.
“This behavior provokes the return of hostilities and poses risks on the entire region and the foundations of peace,” the statement said.
Egyptian officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss closed-door talks, said Cairo has made clear to the Trump administration and Israel that it will resist any such proposal, and that the peace deal with Israel — which has stood for nearly half a century — is at risk.
According to the Associated Press, one official said the message has been delivered to the Pentagon, the state department and members of the US Congress. A second official said it has also been conveyed to Israel and its Western European allies, including Britain, France and Germany.
A Western diplomat in Cairo, also speaking anonymously because the discussions have not been made public, confirmed receiving Egypt’s message of its strong opposition through multiple channels. The diplomat said Egypt was very serious and viewed the plan as a threat to its national security.
