'Israel's' Ben-Gvir plans to relocate 1.86M Palestinians from Gaza over 7 years

• ‘Israel’s’ far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has proposed removing 250,000 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip in the first year, followed by the departure of the remaining population over six years.
• Ben Gvir called the plan “realistic” and said some countries were ready to receive Palestinians, while international law considers the forced displacement of civilians in occupied territory a war crime.

‘Israel’s’ far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir unveiled a plan Thursday to remove Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and send them abroad, proposing the departure of 250,000 Palestinians during the first year and the remainder of Gaza’s roughly two million residents over the following six years.

Speaking ahead of closely contested Israeli elections, Ben Gvir described the proposal as “realistic,” claiming that some countries were prepared to receive Palestinians from Gaza without identifying them.

“We must encourage the emigration of Gaza’s inhabitants,” Ben Gvir said, while insisting that his proposal would not involve forcing Palestinians to leave their land.

His Jewish Power party is expected to demand the creation of a government ministry responsible for “emigration” if it participates in the next coalition. Ben Gvir said the proposal was the product of 18 months of work and described it as a concrete plan.

The forced displacement of civilians in occupied territory is prohibited under international humanitarian law and can constitute a war crime.

For Palestinians, proposals to remove Gaza’s population evoke the Nakba, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were displaced from their homes during the establishment of ‘Israel’ in 1948.

Ben Gvir’s comments have repeatedly drawn international condemnation. Members of ‘Israel’s’ right-wing governing coalition have also made repeated calls for Palestinians to leave Gaza, although it remains unclear whether the proposals will translate into government policy.

A 20-page document reviewed by AFP and titled “National Work Plan for Voluntary Emigration from the Gaza Strip” describes the proposal as a potential solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

‘Israel’s’ Defense Minister Israel Katz said Wednesday that ‘Israel’ had prepared plans to remove Palestinians from Gaza if the United States approved the move. Katz has for months advocated what he describes as the “voluntary emigration” of Gaza’s population.

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has gone further, proposing that similar measures be applied to Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

The proposals have also echoed calls previously made by US President Donald Trump, who at the beginning of his second term called for Palestinians to leave the Gaza Strip and suggested transforming the territory into a luxury resort destination.

Trump later backed away from the proposal following widespread international opposition, including from Egypt, which shares Gaza’s only border with a country other than ‘Israel’.

The vast majority of Gaza’s population has already been displaced internally by ‘Israeli’ military operations launched after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack.

The attack killed 1,221 people in ‘Israel’, according to official Israeli figures.

Since then, ‘Israel’s’ offensive has killed at least 73,470 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which operates under the Hamas-run administration. The ministry says more than 1,330 people have been killed since the ceasefire.