Israel is once again bringing forward an old plan to remove Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. The country’s defense minister, Yisrael Katz, recently said there is no real solution to the crisis without the “voluntary emigration” of Palestinians from Gaza. His remarks have sparked fresh concern in the international arena.
Speaking at a political conference held ahead of Israel’s upcoming election, Katz said the plan to remove Palestinians from Gaza had at one point been “paused” because of U.S. President Donald Trump, but was never scrapped. He claimed the plan remains under discussion and only needs U.S. support to be implemented.
According to Katz, if an opportunity is created for Palestinians in Gaza to move to other countries, Israel is ready to relocate them. He said arrangements could be made, if needed, to move them out by sea, air or any other route. But he said the biggest obstacle to the plan is other countries’ reluctance to accept Gaza residents.
The idea of removing Palestinians from Gaza is not new. In February 2025, after a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump proposed that the U.S. take control of Gaza, relocate its residents elsewhere, and turn the area into a “Riviera of the Middle East.” That proposal drew widespread criticism around the world. The U.N. secretary-general at the time, Antonio Guterres, also called for preventing any forced displacement of the people of Gaza.
Israel subsequently established a special office focused on “voluntary emigration.” Set up under Katz’s Defense Ministry, the office’s stated purpose was to arrange for Gaza residents to move “safely and under supervision” to a third country. Reports citing Israeli officials later emerged about efforts to revive the plan to remove Palestinians from Gaza.
Meanwhile, the U.S.-led peace plan for Gaza had called for allowing Palestinians to remain in Gaza and rebuild, rather than displacing them. Several Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, had welcomed that plan. But the peace plan is currently stuck over disagreements between Israel and Hamas. Israel is unwilling to withdraw troops from Gaza without Hamas’s disarmament, while Hamas is unwilling to give up its weapons before an Israeli troop withdrawal.
Among Israeli right-wing politicians, demands for Jewish settlement in Gaza have also grown louder. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has recently spoken of re-establishing Jewish settlements in various parts of Gaza and has called for encouraging the “voluntary emigration” of Palestinians. At the same time, Israeli settlement expansion continues in the occupied West Bank.
With the Gaza peace plan effectively stalled, observers are not viewing Katz’s recent remarks as mere election rhetoric. In particular, his statements that “the plan has not been scrapped” and that U.S. support is needed have raised fresh fears over the future of Gaza’s residents. Washington has not immediately commented on Katz’s remarks.