Norway rejects Israeli minister’s claim that Palestine-supporting countries should take in Gazans

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - Norway on Friday rejected Israel's argument that countries opposed to its actions in Gaza should take in displaced Palestinians, stressing that the forced transfer of civilians is prohibited under international law.

In response to an Anadolu email, Norway's Deputy Foreign Minister Andreas Kravik noted that Palestine is the homeland of the Palestinian people.

"The Palestinian people have a fundamental, independent right to self-determination and their own state," he said, adding that this was the basis for the UN Partition Plan in 1947, after which Israel was recognized by Norway and a number of other countries in 1949.