'Can't just remove 2 million Palestinians': CNN host grills Israeli official on Trump plan
CNN anchor Pamela Brown on Wednesday grilled Israeli ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon about President Donald Trump's proposal to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from Gaza.
During an interview, Brown brought up the sheer improbability of being able to forcibly expel Palestinians from Gaza, due not just to resistance from the Palestinians themselves but from neighboring countries such as Egypt and Jordan.
"They don't want to leave their land," she said. "Neighboring countries have said that they will not play a part here... you can't just remove 2 million Palestinians under international law."
She then played clips of Gaza residents vowing to remain defiant in the face of Trump's plan.
"We lived under bombardments for a year and a half," said one man. "After all this suffering, starvation, bombardments and death, we won't easily leave Gaza."
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Danon replied by saying that Trump's idea at least deserved to be considered.
"First, many leaders speak about the Palestinian cause for years, but they are not offering much," he said. "And I think President Trump is actually offering a new idea so it's worthwhile to evaluate it. But I think we all agree that it should require the consent, consent of people to move out from where they live, and the concern for other countries to receive them."
Brown, however, noted that Trump wouldn't rule out the use of military force to remove Palestinians and pointed out that this would blatantly violate international law, in her view.
"Do you support this because it eliminates the possibility of a two-state solution?" Brown asked him.
"So I will be very clear about it, I don't think President Trump is speaking about removing anyone or forcing anyone," he said, despite the fact that Trump literally said there was "no choice" but to remove Palestinians. "He is creating an opportunity and he's putting out ideas for the Palestinians. You know, it's about time."
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