International human rights lawyer: ‘It is absolutely legal for the US to take over Gaza’

Ostrovsky says those violating international human rights law are the ones insisting Gazan civilians must stay in Gaza. 

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

US President Donald Trump’s plan for the US to take control of Gaza and allow its civilians to leave the area during the rebuilding process is “absolutely legal,” according to international human rights lawyer Arsen Ostrovsky.

In fact, Ostrovsky asserts that those violating international human rights law are the ones insisting that Gazan civilians must remain in Gaza.

Speaking to ILTV News, he said, “Einstein’s famous quote is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. And for many, many years, including since October 7, the international community has had the same failing strategy with respect to Gaza, a strategy that essentially allows Hamas to remain in power, which we know is simply unacceptable.”

Ostrovsky emphasized that Trump’s plan would be legal as long as the transfer of civilians was not done by force, which would violate international law.

Instead, Ostrovsky says he understands Trump’s proposal as creating “a set of circumstances and conditions to allow Gazans to voluntarily choose to move to better conditions elsewhere.”

He added that those who insist that Gazans must stay in the Gaza Strip are, in fact, advocating for an inhumane and unsustainable situation.

“I would actually go one step further and suggest that those who insist the Gazans stay are perhaps the ones violating international law. By doing so, especially while Hamas remains in power, they’re essentially forcing Gazans to stay in an active war zone and allowing them to be used as human shields by Hamas,” Ostrovsky said.

During a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Donald Trump unveiled his plan for the US to control Gaza and for the civilian population to relocate to Arab countries.

Although the plan was welcomed by Israelis, heads of Arab nations have rejected it.

The proposal involves collaborating with Arab states to accept refugees from Gaza while the area is reconstructed, a process that could take up to ten years.