Emboldened by US President Donald Trump's statement that Gazans should be permanently displaced, the Israeli ministry is reportedly preparing a plan to allow voluntary departure for Gaza residents via sea and air.
Defense Minister Israeli Katz instructed the Israeli Defense Forces to prepare a plan to allow any resident of Gaza who is interested to leave to any place in the world that agrees to accept them. Though Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has enthusiastically supported Trump's plan, Israel has not yet officially adopted any such plan, reported YNet News.
The Defense Ministry's Counter-Terrorism Unit is supposed to be responsible for this, but Katz turned his attention to the IDF and said that the plan he wanted to prepare should include "exit options at land crossings as well as special arrangements for exit by sea and air."
I have instructed the IDF to prepare a plan that will allow any resident of Gaza who wishes to leave to do so, to any country willing to receive them.
— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) February 6, 2025
Hamas has used the residents of Gaza as human shields, built its terror infrastructure in the heart of the civilian population,…
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Donald Trump says Palestinians ought not be allowed to return to Gaza because "why would they want to return? That place has been hell" — next to the grinning man who made it hell.pic.twitter.com/FDabhUCMIP
Katz told reporters that he welcomed Trump's "bold plan" and said it allowed a large population in Gaza to leave for various places in the world.
"I have instructed the IDF to prepare a plan that will allow any resident of Gaza who is interested to leave to any place in the world that agrees to accept them," Katz said, adding that Hamas was using Gazans as human shield.
Though the Defense Ministry's Counter-Terrorism Unit is supposed to be responsible for this, Katz entrusted the task to the IDF.
He then called on countries that criticised Israel for action in Gaza to accept them. "Countries like Spain, Ireland, Norway and others, which have made false accusations and plots against Israel due to its activities in Gaza, are obligated by law to allow every Gazan resident to enter their territory - and their hypocrisy will be exposed if they refuse to do so," he added.
Katz said countries like Canada had expressed a desire earlier to take in Gazans and they should be allowed to enjoy freedom of exit and immigration as is customary everywhere in the world.
Trump's statement has triggered Arab countries, including Egypt and Jorden which shunned the suggestion to take more Palestinian refugees. Saudi Arabia too made it clear that they won't be any attempts at normalising relations with Israel unless there is a Palestinian state, including Gaza.
