Israeli war chief creates office to arrange 'voluntary exit' of Palestinians from Gaza
Israel is pressuring Palestinians to permanently leave Gaza after laying waste to large swathes of the strip and making it almost uninhabitable due to 15 months of bombing
Defense Minister Israel Katz announced the establishment of a new directorate in the Defense Ministry tasked with creating a plan for Palestinians to “voluntarily” leave the Gaza Strip, the Times of Israel reported on 18 February.
The new directorate was established during an assessment held Monday on the subject of Palestinians “leaving Gaza,” his office said. It will include representatives from various government ministries and defense bodies.
The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) presented Katz with an initial proposal for ridding Gaza of Palestinians to make way for Jewish settlers.
“The plan includes extensive assistance that will allow any Gaza resident who wants to emigrate to a third state, to receive support that includes special departure arrangements through the sea, air, and land, among other things,” Katz’s office stated.
Earlier this month, Katz said he had ordered the army to formulate a plan to “allow” Palestinians to leave Gaza.
The new directorate is being established in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s plan to “clean out” Gaza of Palestinians. Trump aims to forcibly displace Palestinians from the strip and relocate them to Egypt and/or Jordan. He would then rebuild Gaza into the “Riviera of the Middle East,” while banning Palestinians from returning.
Katz welcomed “Trump’s bold plan, which could allow a large portion of Gaza’s population to relocate to various places around the world.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that he was “committed to US President Donald Trump’s plan for the creation of a different Gaza” while vowing that neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority (PA) be allowed to control it after the war.
Trump’s repeated proposal for a US “takeover” of Gaza has triggered condemnations from Palestinians as well as rights groups who note that the plan is illegal under international law and clearly amounts to ethnic cleansing.
Previous Israeli proposals have also called for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza – by destroying the enclave so thoroughly and killing so many people that it would seem compassionate to then give Palestinians the “choice” to emigrate as asylum seekers for a better future.