Israeli Ministers Propose Multi-Year Plan to Move Gaza Population

Overview

• This week senior ministers including Itamar Ben-Gvir and Defense Minister Israel Katz publicly outlined a multi-year program that would see 250,000 people leave Gaza in the first year and the rest moved over six more years.
• Ben-Gvir framed the scheme as 'voluntary emigration' and named countries his party is considering as destinations, while Katz said Israel is 'prepared' to transfer people 'by sea, by air, by any means.'
• The U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, said there is no plan to force Palestinians from Gaza and that neither Israel nor the United States supports forced displacement.
• Rights groups and legal experts warn a state-led program to move a long-occupied civilian population could amount to forcible transfer and breach the Geneva Conventions, and no international resettlement deals have been confirmed.
• The proposals come ahead of Israel's October 27 general election, deepen fears among Gaza residents still living amid vast destruction and displacement, and occur as international courts and U.N. bodies continue to examine alleged crimes from the 2023–26 conflict.