Palestinians “must be allowed home”, Keir Starmer has said in the wake of Donald Trump’s proposal to remove people from the Gaza Strip and put the territory under US control.

The prime minister told the Commons during prime minister’s questions that Palestinians “must be allowed to rebuild and we should be with them in that rebuild on the way to a two-state solution”.

His comments come after the US president suggested the “Riviera of the Middle East” could be created and said he did not think “people should be going back” to Gaza. Trump’s idea has been widely condemned as ethnic cleansing, given it would be a breach of international law.

While Starmer did not directly criticise the US president’s plan, he said:

The most important issue on the ceasefire is obviously it’s sustained, we see it through the phases, and that means that the remaining hostages come out, and the aid that’s desperately needed gets into Gaza at speed and at the volumes that are needed.

I have from the last few weeks two images fixed in my mind. The first is the image of Emily Damari reunited with her mother, which I found extremely moving. The second was the image of thousands of Palestinians walking, literally walking, through the rubble to try to find their homes and their communities in Gaza. They must be allowed home. They must be allowed to rebuild, and we should be with them in that rebuild on the way to a two-state solution.”

Starmer was responding to a question from the Liberal Democrat leader, Ed Davey, who asked for reassurance that the “concerns on these dangerous statements from the president will be communicated to the White House directly and firmly”.

Davey told Starmer:

Many of us were alarmed to hear President Trump speak about forcibly displacing 1.8 million people from Gaza.”

He added:

I’m glad that the foreign secretary has confirmed that the government’s position is still a two-state solution, I think that has support on all sides of the house, but will he reassure the house that this position and our concerns on these dangerous statements from the president will be communicated to the White House directly and firmly?”

Léonie Chao-Fong

Donald Trump and Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, addressed reporters at the White House, where the US president announced his intention to take over the Gaza Strip, move Palestinians to neighbouring countries and redevelop the territory for occupation by “the world’s people”, effectively endorsing the ethnic cleansing of the people of Gaza.

Here are the main takeaways from their joint press conference on Tuesday evening:

Any forcible transfer in or deportation of people from occupied territory breaches international law, the UN human rights office (UNHR) said on Wednesday, in reference to Donald Trump’s claim that the US would take over the Gaza Strip and forcibly resettle the Palestinian population elsewhere.

“It is crucial that we move towards the next phase of the ceasefire, to release all hostages and arbitrarily detained prisoners, end the war and reconstruct Gaza, with full respect for international humanitarian law and international human rights law,” said the UNHR in a statement to Reuters.

“Any forcible transfer in or deportation of people from occupied territory is strictly prohibited,” it continued.

Speaking in parliament in London, the British prime minister Keir Starmer has said Palestinians “must be allowed home.”

Starmer was responding to a question from Liberal Democrat Ed Davey, the leader of the third largest party in the House of Commons, and told lawmakers:

The most important issue on the ceasefire is, obviously that it’s sustained, and we see it through the phases. And that means that the remaining hostages come out, and the aid that’s desperately needed gets into Gaza at speed and at the volumes that are needed.

I have from the last few weeks two images fixed in my mind. The first is the image of Emily Damari reunited with her mother, which I found extremely moving.

The second was the image of thousands of Palestinians walking, literally walking through the rubble, to try to find their homes and their communities in Gaza.

They must be allowed home. They must be allowed to rebuild, and we should be with them in that rebuild, on the way to a two state solution.

Starmer did not mention US president Donald Trump by name, nor did he respond to Davey’s suggestion that he should reassure lawmakers that “our concerns on these dangerous statements from the president will be communicated to the White House directly and firmly.”

Donald Trump has called for a “verified peace agreement” with Iran that would allow the country “peacefully grow and prosper”.

“I want Iran to be a great and successful Country, but one that cannot have a Nuclear Weapon,” he said on his Truth Social platform.

“Reports that the United States, working in conjunction with Israel, is going to blow Iran into smithereens, ARE GREATLY EXAGGERATED.”

Trump continued: “I would much prefer a Verified Nuclear Peace Agreement, which will let Iran peacefully grow and prosper.

“We should start working on it immediately, and have a big Middle East Celebration when it is signed and completed. God Bless the Middle East!”

During his first term, Trump withdrew the US from the Iran nuclear deal, which had been agreed with Iran by the US, the UK, France, China, Russia, and the EU.

The deal limited Iran’s nuclear programme in return for the lifting of sanctions, but faced widespread opposition on the American right.

Andrew Sparrow

John Swinney, Scotland’s first minister, has condemned President Trump’s plans for Gaza as “unacceptable and dangerous”, saying there “must be no ethnic cleansing”.

In a post on Bluesky he said:

After months of collective punishment and the death of over 40,000 in Gaza, any suggestion Palestinians should be removed from their home is unacceptable and dangerous.

There must be no ethnic cleansing.

Only a proper two state solution will bring lasting peace.”

And Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s former first minister, whose parents-in-law were trapped in Gaza for a number of weeks in 2023 after the 7 October Hamas massacre tiggered war, has also described President Trump’s plan as “ethnic cleansing”.

In a post on social media commenting on what Trump said during his White House press conference, Yousaf said:

Why is it a living hell? Who bombed it, killing tens of thousands of people, including children, and reduced Gaza to rubble?

Also, what Trump calls “permanent resettlement” is what the rest of the world should call ethnic cleansing.

Gaza belongs to the people of Gaza. Period.”

German foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, said on Wednesday that the Gaza Strip belongs to Palestinians, and their expulsion would be unacceptable and contrary to international law, reports Reuters.

“The civilian population of Gaza must not be expelled and Gaza must not be permanently occupied or repopulated,” Baerbock said in a statement. “It is clear that Gaza – like the West Bank and East Jerusalem – belongs to the Palestinians. They form the basis for a future Palestinian state.”

“It would also lead to new suffering and new hatred,” said Baerbock in a statement, adding: “There must be no solution over the heads of the Palestinians.”

Hamas on Wednesday condemned a proposal by US president Donald Trump to “take over” and “own” Gaza, saying it will fan the flames of Middle East violence.

Hamas said in a statement that the proposal “aiming for the United States to occupy the Gaza Strip” was “aggressive to our people and cause, won’t serve stability in the region and will only put oil on the fire”.

The UK’s foreign minister, David Lammy, said on Wednesday it should be ensured that Palestinians have a future in their homeland, a day after US president Donald Trump proposed resettling Palestinians and taking over Gaza to develop it.

“We’ve always been clear in our belief that we must see two states. We must see Palestinians live and prosper in their homelands in Gaza and the West Bank,” he told a news conference during a trip to Kyiv.