Major European countries rejected on Wednesday comments by President Donald Trump suggesting the United States could take control of Gaza and Palestinians could be displaced elsewhere.

Trump unveiled his surprise plan without providing specifics, at a joint press conference on Tuesday with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

France said that Trump’s suggestion would violate international law and destabilize the region.

“France reiterates its opposition to any forced displacement of the Palestinian population of Gaza, which would constitute a serious violation of international law, an attack on the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinians, but also a major obstacle to the two-state solution and a major destabilizing factor for our close partners Egypt and Jordan as well as for the entire region,” Foreign ministry spokesman Christophe Lemoine said in a statement.

Lemoine added that the future of Gaza should be in the context of a future Palestinian state and should not be controlled by a third country.

For his part, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy that Palestinians should be able to “live and prosper” in Gaza and the West Bank, hitting back Trump’s proposal.

“We must see Palestinians able to live and prosper in their homelands in Gaza, in the West Bank. That is what we want to get to,” Lammy said at a press conference in Ukraine's capital Kyiv.

Germany’s top diplomat Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock stressed that the Gaza Strip belongs to Palestinians, and that their expulsion would be unacceptable and contrary to international law.

“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.”