Israel’s security cabinet has approved a controversial proposal to promote Palestinian immigration from Gaza, which is believed to constitute ethnic cleansing.
Fast-right Israel Finance Minister Bezales Smotrich said on Sunday, March 23 that the security cabinet approved a proposal proposed by Defense Minister Israel Katz to organize “a voluntary transfer of Gaza residents who expressed interest in Israeli and international law moving to a third country, and after the vision of U.S. President Donald Ward.”
The decision marks a significant recognition of a plan that was once considered the far-right desire, despite the early guarantees from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that it would not permanently replace Gaza’s civilian population.
Critics say that any large-scale displacement of Gaza people in the War of Destruction is equivalent to ethnic cleansing, an act related to war crimes and crimes against humanity under international law.
Israeli officials retorted that immigration would be voluntary and comply with international legal standards.
Martin Griffiths, the United Nations’ top emergency relief official, called the enclave “uninhabited” and said its people “witnessed the daily threats they exist.”
A statement from the Ministry of Defense said Israel approved a government to be established within the Ministry of Defense “for the safety and controlled campaign of Gaza residents who wish to voluntarily relocate to a third country to promote government within the Ministry of Defense.”
Its work will include “establishing a movement route, conducting pedestrian inspections at designated intersections in the Gaza Strip” and infrastructure that enables people to leave.
Israeli officials introduced the plan to fulfill U.S. President Donald Trump’s desire to take over Gaza, deport its Palestinian population to neighboring countries and turn it into a “Riviera” in the Middle East.
Palestinian authorities’ Foreign Minister Varsen Aghaheen said last month that Palestinians “remain unwaveringly stay on their own land and will not move.”
Katz said on Sunday that Israel is using “a universal implementation of the vision of the US president.”
This month, Trump seemed to shy away from his comments about replacing Palestinians and told reporters: “No one expels any Palestinians.” Steve Witkoff, the U.S. Special Envoy for the Middle East, said last month that the U.S. initiative to rebuild Gaza does not necessarily constitute an “exit plan” and is intended to “shake everyone’s mind.”
Last year, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country had no intention of replacing the Palestinians or occupying Gaza.
“I want to make some point clear: Israel has no intention of permanent occupation of Gaza or displaced civilians,” Netanyahu said in a video statement in January 2024.
However, Trump’s proposals have added the idea to the mainstream, with Israeli politicians now openly discussing mass immigration of Gaza people as a solution to the war, and Katz said last week that Israel may remain permanent in the enclave.
