Overview

• On July 7, Defense Minister Israel Katz unveiled a proposal to build a closed “humanitarian city” in Rafah that would first house 600,000 displaced Gazans and eventually accommodate Gaza’s entire population.
• The plan envisions security screenings for entrants, a perimeter secured by Israeli forces, and restrictions preventing residents from exiting the facility.
• Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir have publicly equated the city to a concentration camp and cautioned it diverts focus from military objectives.
• UNRWA and the Palestinian Authority have criticised the proposal as creating de-facto concentration camps and enacting forced displacement that could violate international humanitarian law.
• Israel’s insistence on retaining control of the designated camp zone has become a key obstacle in ceasefire talks in Qatar.