Israel's plan to evacuate Gaza would be illegal forceful displacement, Norway and Iceland say

Israel's plans to evacuate Palestinians from Gaza would amount to illegal forceful displacement, would lead to more violence, and would undermine efforts to create a Palestinian state, the foreign ministers of Norway and Iceland said on Thursday.

The pair are part of a group of Western European nations - which also includes Ireland, Spain, Slovenia and Luxembourg - which on Wednesday condemned Israel's plans to step up its military operations in Gaza as it seeks to remove militant group Hamas.

"We are alarmed and appalled by what we have heard from the Israeli security cabinet about plans to step up even stronger the military campaign in Gaza and to do what they refer to as an evacuation," Norway's Espen Barth Eide said in an interview.

"It will amount to forceful displacement of the Palestinian people, first from north to south, and potentially out of the country. This is illegal in international law," he said, adding "it will undermine the hope for a Palestinian state ... (and be) a recipe for more bloodshed."

Reuters