Israel ready to remove Gaza population if US gives approval: minister

Israel has plans ready to remove Palestinians from Gaza but is waiting for US approval on where to send them, Defense Minister Israel Katz said Wednesday. Speaking at a conference hosted by Israeli news site Ynet and newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, Katz said Israel is prepared to move Gaza's population "by sea, by air, by every way possible."

Why is Israel waiting for US approval on Gaza?

Katz said the relocation plan has not been cancelled and remains under constant discussion, but moving forward depends on Washington. He said approval would likely come once it becomes clear Hamas is not meeting its obligations under the ceasefire. Egypt, he added, is not an option as a destination for Gaza's population.

"There is no real solution for Gaza in the end without this migration," Katz said. The US embassy referred requests for comment to the State Department in Washington. Katz, without citing a source, claimed 80 percent of people in Gaza want to leave but are being stopped by Hamas.

What did Trump propose for Gaza's population?

Donald Trump, at the start of his second term, called for all two million Palestinians to leave Gaza. He spoke of turning the territory, devastated by Israeli bombardment since Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack, into a luxury resort destination.

Trump walked back the proposal after strong pushback, including from Egypt, the only country besides Israel that borders Gaza. Palestinians also condemned the plan, saying forced removal from their land would echo the 1948 "Nakba," or catastrophe, tied to Israel's creation. In October, announcing a Gaza ceasefire, Trump laid out 20 points for the territory that ruled out forced displacement. Katz said Trump had only "frozen" the idea while searching for countries willing to take in Palestinians.

Is forcibly displacing Gaza's population a war crime?

Forced displacement of civilians in occupied territory is considered a war crime under the Geneva Conventions. The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Katz's predecessor, Yoav Gallant, over alleged war crimes. Both Israel and the United States deny the allegations.

How many people have died in Gaza's war?

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