Israel’s defence minister has advanced plans to remove Palestinians from the Gaza Strip through “voluntary emigration”.
Israel Katz said on Wednesday that the plans would take place “at the proper time and in the proper manner”.
Despite the Israeli genocide in Gaza, which has killed more than 70,000 Palestinians and wrought utter destruction on the coastal enclave, the vast majority of Palestinians there say they will never abandon their home.
Katz made the comments alongside an announcement that Israel had killed Mohammed Odeh, the head of Hamas’s armed wing, along with his wife and three children.
Israel’s security cabinet approved a proposal by Katz in March to establish a directorate within his ministry to facilitate “migration” from the enclave.
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Proposals for the removal of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip have been repeatedly raised during the course of the Israeli genocide.
They have come alongside calls from Israeli settlers to construct new settlements in the Palestinian territory.
Though some ministers have framed the move to remove Palestinians as a voluntary option, other Israeli officials have been explicitly calling for forced expulsion, which is a war crime.
During a visit in early May, far-right Israeli MP Limor Son Har-Melech called for the full occupation of Gaza and the expulsion of its residents, describing it as the only way to achieve security in Israel.
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Following a tour near the Gaza boundary, she said in a post on X that “only conquest, expulsion, and settlement will restore security for the residents of Israel”.
“Regrettably, the State of Israel is still captive to a flawed conception. There is no alternative to conquest, expulsion, and settlement,” she wrote, adding: “Any other solution is unfeasible and will bring upon us the next massacre.”
She also said there was “no escape” from controlling the so-called Netzarim Corridor, which divides Gaza into northern and southern areas, and establishing a continuous settlement presence there.
A US-backed ceasefire announced in October was intended to halt the war and lift the total siege of Gaza, allowing flows of aid, food and medicine into the territory.
However, Israel has consistently breached the agreement and largely maintained the blockade, keeping fuel, food and medical supplies critically scarce.
A few thousand Palestinians were evacuated from Gaza during the war through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.
Since the ceasefire, Israel has only let a handful of Palestinians return from Egypt each day. Palestinians that were able to make the crossing have described to Middle East Eye being abused and harassed by Israeli forces on the journey.
Meanwhile, air strikes and shelling are ongoing, with more than 800 people killed since the ceasefire.
Overall, Israeli forces have killed more than 72,700 people since October 2023, with more than 172,000 others wounded.
