Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz has publicly declared that Israel has plans prepared to forcibly remove all Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, and is waiting for the United States to approve the move and identify countries willing to accept them. Speaking at a media conference hosted by Israeli news outlet Ynet and newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth on Wednesday, Katz said: "There is no real solution for Gaza in the end without this migration." He added that the Israeli government was "organised and prepared to get them out — by sea, by air, by every way possible."
Katz acknowledged that the initiative hinges on Washington's backing, arguing that neighbouring countries will only accept Palestinian refugees if the United States endorses the plan. He framed the idea as still very much alive, saying Trump had not cancelled it but had "frozen" it while seeking suitable destination countries. He pointed to Egypt — the only country besides Israel to share a border with Gaza — as a key obstacle, noting that Cairo had lobbied Washington to oppose forced removal. Without providing a source, Katz also claimed that 80 per cent of Gaza's population wished to leave but were being prevented from doing so by Hamas.
The remarks come against a complex diplomatic backdrop. President Donald Trump, at the start of his second term, had proposed relocating Gaza's approximately two million residents and redeveloping the Mediterranean coastal territory into a luxury resort, but stepped back after sharp international pushback. A 20-point ceasefire plan the White House announced in October explicitly ruled out forced displacement. The US embassy referred requests for comment to the State Department in Washington, and the White House had not responded to queries by the time of publication.
Forced displacement of civilians from occupied territory is classified as a war crime under the Geneva Conventions, a point underscored by the sources and by ongoing legal proceedings. The International Criminal Court has already issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Katz's predecessor Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes in Gaza — charges both Israel and the United States reject. Palestinian leaders and advocacy groups have long warned that any mass removal would echo the "Nakba" — the Arabic word for catastrophe — referring to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians during Israel's founding in 1948.
Katz's remarks come during an Israeli election season in which Netanyahu and his right-wing allies have pushed increasingly aggressive positions toward Palestinians. On the ground, Gaza's health ministry reports that Israeli strikes have killed more than 73,470 people since October 2023, with over 1,300 deaths since a ceasefire took effect last October. The UN renewed its alarm on Wednesday over civilian casualties, including the deaths of three children aged between three and thirteen in a 24-hour period, and warned that around one million people in Gaza were facing a second consecutive day of water shortages.