UN rejects 'annexation' proposals for Palestinian territories

The UN rights chief on Wednesday rejected as "unlawful" proposals for the annexation of or forced transfer from Palestinian territories, warning they posed a threat to the entire region.

"We must resist any normalisation of unlawful conduct, including proposals for annexation or forced transfer," Volker Turk told the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Such proposals "could threaten the peace and security of Palestinians and Israelis, and of the wider region", he warned, insisting that "this is the moment for voices of reason to prevail".

Turk did not give details, but there have been rising levels of violence by Israeli settlers in the West Bank and calls for annexation after Israel announced expanded military operations in the occupied Palestinian territory.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly proposed emptying war-ravaged Gaza of Palestinians.

He has floated the idea of a US takeover of Gaza under which its Palestinian population would be relocated -- a proposal met with widespread condemnation, but welcomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Trump later appeared to soften his plan, saying he was only recommending the idea, and conceding that the leaders of Jordan and Egypt -- the proposed destinations for relocated Gazans -- had rejected any effort to move Palestinians against their will.

But the US president's official social media accounts on Wednesday posted an apparently AI-generated video depicting war-ravaged Gaza rebuilt into a seaside resort, replete with a towering golden statue of Trump himself.

Presenting a fresh report on the rights situation in the Palestinian territories, Turk said Wednesday: "We urgently need to end the conflict."