Overview

• Defence Minister Israel Katz has directed the IDF to draft plans for a fenced ‘humanitarian city’ on the ruins of Rafah to house up to 600,000 Gazans initially and potentially the enclave’s entire population.
• The Israeli government describes the zone as a voluntary relocation offering food, medical aid and security monitored from a distance by the military.
• Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has condemned the proposal as a concentration camp amounting to ethnic cleansing, and opposition leader Yair Lapid has accused the government of undermining ceasefire talks.
• IDF generals cautioned in closed-door briefings that constructing and managing the camp could take up to a year, cost an estimated 15 billion shekels and jeopardize ongoing ceasefire and hostage-release negotiations.
• Senior Hamas official Husam Badran and international law scholars argue the encampment violates humanitarian law and risks forced displacement or war crimes.