The mobilization of people in the Gaza Strip could push Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump off their path, a former UN special rapporteur said Monday.
"We have reached a point where the desperation of the situation is such that only a mobilization of people that can influence the behavior of leading governments can bring about some kind of fundamental change that avoids the kind of path that Netanyahu and Trump seem to be walking at the moment," Richard Falk told a conference on Palestine at Istanbul University.
Saying he has been interested in the Palestinian issue for a long time and has been opposing the US government for its policies on this issue for decades, Falk described Trump's plans for the future of Gaza as a "dark vision."
Trump has repeatedly called for "taking over" Gaza and resettling its population to redevelop the enclave into what he called "the Riviera of the Middle East." The idea has been vehemently rejected by the Arab world and many other nations, who say it amounts to ethnic cleansing.
"The explicitness of Trump's endorsement of what Israel has done in Gaza is quite horrifying, because what it does is to punish the victim.
"And on the other side, it appears to make Gaza into a real estate project, a gigantic real estate project that will enrich construction investment and will eventuate, supposedly, in a 'Riviera for the Middle East,'" Falk said.
Turning to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), he said the humanitarian efforts of UNRWA should not be underestimated.
"That is my commitment and the commitment of the Gaza Tribunal. It is also a commitment that must give the Palestinian people agency over their own future," he added.
Regarding Trump's plan to "take over" Gaza, Falk said that "Trump is always looking for a deal, and maybe this is just a way of opening a kind of negotiation for some sort of future where the US acts as a protectorate."
He said there are other proposals, including from Türkiye, that suggest an alternative form of protectorate administered by Türkiye on behalf of the Palestinian people.
"And if I was Palestinian, I would certainly prefer that to the Trump idea," he stressed.
Trump's proposal emerged after a truce agreement took effect in Gaza on Jan. 19, pausing Israel's 15-month onslaught, which has killed more than 48,000 people and left the enclave in ruins.
