Gaza Palestinians removal plan set out by Ben Gvir

Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir on Thursday set out a plan to remove Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and send them abroad.

Speaking ahead of close-fought Israeli elections, Ben Gvir said the plan aimed for 250,000 Palestinians to leave Gaza in the first year. He said the rest of the territory's roughly two million residents would leave over the following six years.

“It's realistic,” Ben Gvir said, claiming that some countries were ready to take in Gazans. He did not name them.

Ben Gvir said Israel must “encourage” the emigration of Gaza's inhabitants and said he did not believe the plan meant forcing Palestinians to leave their land.

Forced displacement of civilians in occupied territory is considered a war crime under the Geneva Conventions. For Palestinians, any effort to force them off their land would recall the “Nakba”, their mass displacement during Israel's creation in 1948.

Ben Gvir said his right-wing populist Jewish Power party would demand “a ministry in charge of emigration” during the formation of the next government. A 20-page document seen by AFP was titled “National Work Plan for Voluntary Emigration from the Gaza Strip.”

It is unclear how far remarks by members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing coalition about transferring Palestinians out of Gaza will be followed by action. The October 27 vote is expected to be close, and the current ruling parties may not remain in power.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Wednesday that Israel was ready with plans to remove Palestinians from Gaza if the United States gave its approval. Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has proposed extending such a measure to Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

US President Donald Trump earlier called for all Palestinians to leave the Gaza Strip and spoke of developing the devastated Mediterranean territory into a luxury resort destination. He later walked back the idea after strong pushback, including from Egypt.

Israeli attacks have internally displaced the vast majority of Gaza's people following the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, which killed 1,221 people, according to official Israeli figures. Israel's offensive has killed at least 73,470 people in Gaza, including more than 1,330 since the ceasefire, according to the Gaza health ministry, which operates under Hamas.