In an interview with the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations website about US President Donald Trump’s plan to relocate Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank, Seyed Hadi Seyed Afqahi emphasized that this plan has been rejected and is more like an illusion. : He said according to international law, Gaza and the West Bank are an occupied territory. After 1967, the United Nations declared that these territories were occupied, while the United Nations recognizes the resistance of countries whose territory is under the occupation of the enemy, and this resistance is permissible for the people under occupation in any form and by any means.

He added: “Another issue is that the reality on the ground does not allow either Trump or Netanyahu to stay in this region; they want to do what they did in Gaza in the West Bank, although not to the extent of a ground war in Gaza, but their main goal is to occupy the lands  and pressure the Palestinian people in these two regions to force the people to leave the region and at the same time they aim to destroy the infrastructure.”

Referring to the international and regional reaction and reflection on this plan, this expert on regional issues said: “The Jordanians and Egyptians have officially announced that they do not accept this plan. The Jordanian Foreign Minister announced that even if we go to war over this issue, we will not allow the Palestinians to enter Jordan, and Jordan should remain free for the Jordanians.”

Seyed Afqahi continued: “On the other hand, many supporters of the Republican Party believe that this is a crazy move that will not only disrupt the region but will also have a negative impact on all developments in the international.” In addition, countries around the world, except for the United States and the Zionist regime, have rejected this plan and consider its implementation impossible; it is unacceptable that people who own a territory should be driven from their land so that Trump could turn it into a tourist spot.

In response to the question of whether Trump knew that the implementation of this plan was not possible, Seyed Afqahi said: There are two views in this regard; first, he made this plan public to see what the reactions would be and to upset the psychological balance of the region, which of course is a weak hypothesis, and second, he proposed this plan to implement it despite international and regional repercussions and opposition by constantly bringing it up.

This expert on regional issues stated regarding the reaction of the international community, the Arab League, and the Palestinians: If there is serious resistance from the region and the reactions towards the Israeli regime and the United States are serious, the implementation of this plan will definitely be ruled out. Many analysts believe this plan is ultimately impossible with this level of opposition and that the first victim would be the United States.

Stating that the main instigator of this plan is Netanyahu, he said: Not only this plan but also Trump’s other views and approaches are disturbing the peace of the world. Elon Musk has said that Trump feels threatened by these actions and that the negative reflection of these approaches and decisions may spread to the United States. Because it is not just the issue of Gaza and the West Bank but also his positions on the Panama Canal, Mexico, Canada, etc. Of course, to date, the reaction of countries to Trump’s excesses has been appropriate, which shows that if Trump cannot keep his word, he will be forced to reconsider his general policies.

Regarding Europe’s view of Trump’s plan on Gaza and the West Bank, Seyed Afqahi said that Europeans have several challenges with America. One is the issue of customs tariffs, which Trump has claimed will increase from 10 percent to 25 percent, and of course, the Europeans have also announced that they will retaliate if it is implemented. Another issue is the increase in NATO membership fees, and Macron has said that European countries can create a European NATO for themselves. The next issue is that if Trump’s plan to expel Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank is implemented, the entire region will become insecure and could cause widespread wars, significantly since it would endanger the security of energy transit in the region.

He continued: During the Ukrainian war, the Europeans experienced the problems they faced in supplying gas to Europe, while there was no harm to the United States in this regard. Therefore, the Europeans definitely think about the issue of ensuring energy security in relation to any threat to the security of the West Asian region. Today, the Europeans are considering these damages and are standing up to the United States in some way, and whatever pressure Trump puts on them is to the detriment of the United States itself.

He said: “The world will not remain silent in the face of America’s bullying and excesses, and we have witnessed this in a short time.” Regarding the issue that some consider Trump’s plan to relocate Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank to be the result of weakening the resistance front, this expert on regional issues stated: “Who said that Hamas and the resistance front have been weakened? Why did Netanyahu rush to America? Because he cannot advance to the next stages of the war with Hamas. While Netanyahu had announced that he had destroyed 80 percent of Hamas, Hamas brought all its forces to the ground to free the prisoners, and this was a great disgrace for the Israeli regime. On the other hand, the ceasefire in Lebanon was due to the weakness of the Israeli regime in responding to Hezbollah’s missiles.