Amid International Opposition, Israel Prepares to Relocate Gazans

JERUSALEM, THURSDAY — Amid international opposition, Israel has begun preparations for the departure of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip as proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump. Other countries continue to criticize the idea, while Egypt has begun diplomatic relations with the U.S. and Israel.

On Thursday (6/2/2025), Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered the military to prepare a plan to allow residents to leave Gaza. He also praised Trump for his intention to control Gaza, relocate more than 2 million Palestinians in Gaza, and turn the region into a "Middle Eastern Riviera."

“I welcome President Trump’s bold plan, the people of Gaza should be given the freedom to leave and emigrate, as is the norm around the world,” Katz tweeted on the social media platform X.

Katz said the plan would include land crossings as well as departures by sea and air. But so far, there are no signs of preparation on the ground.

According to Katz, countries that oppose Israel's military operations in Gaza are obliged to accept Palestinian citizens, such as Spain, Ireland, Norway, and others. These countries are considered to have made false accusations and claims against Israel's actions in Gaza.

"Their hypocrisy will be exposed if they refuse to do so. There are countries like Canada, which have structured immigration programs, that have previously expressed their willingness to accept Gazans," Katz said.

The displacement of Palestinians is one of the most sensitive issues in the Middle East. The forced displacement of a population under military occupation is a war crime prohibited by the 1949 Geneva Conventions.

The Hamas-Israel war over the past 16 months has forced Palestinians to move around Gaza. Many families refuse to leave the area due to the trauma of the Nakba. Nakba, which means catastrophe in Arabic, was the mass displacement of Palestinians during the creation of Israel in 1948.

Many displaced Palestinians fled to Gaza, the West Bank, and neighboring Arab countries, including Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. Palestinian descendants still live in refugee camps.

Hamas, which controlled the Gaza Strip before the war, called Trump's proposal "ridiculous and unreasonable."

Hamas official Basem Naim accused Katz of trying to cover up the failure of a country to achieve its goals in the war on Gaza. Palestinians, he said, are tied to their land and will not leave.

Several countries have rejected Trump's absurd plan, including France, Egypt, Iran, China, Germany, Indonesia, and Saudi Arabia. The United Nations (UN) and the Arab League also disagree. Spain has also spoken out.

"The land of the Gazans is Gaza and Gaza must be part of the future Palestinian state," Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said in an interview with Spanish radio station RNE.

Egypt and the Arab states strongly oppose any attempt to push Palestinians across the border. Any mass movement would further undermine the prospects for a “two-state solution” – the idea of establishing a Palestinian state and an Israeli state side by side peacefully. If it fails, the Arab states will suffer.

Bordering Gaza, Egypt has launched a behind-the-scenes diplomatic offensive to thwart the plan. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi has not publicly responded to Trump's proposal.

On Wednesday (2/5/2025), an Egyptian official said anonymously that Cairo had made it clear to Washington and Tel Aviv that it would reject the proposal. The Israel-Egypt Peace Agreement, which has been in place for nearly 50 years, is under threat.

The message has been conveyed to the State Department (Pentagon) and the US Congress. Another Egyptian official said the message had also been conveyed to Israel and allies in Western Europe, including Britain, France and Germany.

A Western diplomat in Cairo, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed receiving messages from Egypt through various channels. The diplomat said Egypt was very serious and viewed the plan as a threat to national security.

The diplomat said Egypt had already rejected similar proposals from former US President Joe Biden's administration and European countries early in the war. The previous proposals were made privately. Trump announced his plan at a White House news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Since January 25, 2025, Trump has repeatedly suggested that Palestinians in Gaza be permanently accommodated by regional Arab countries, such as Egypt and Jordan. In addition, the US is said to be responsible for rebuilding Gaza.

Trump did not provide specific details about his proposed takeover of Gaza, but did not rule out the possibility of deploying US troops there.

The Trump administration later walked back the statement, changing some aspects of the proposal after international condemnation.

The White House says the relocation of Palestinians would be temporary. There are few details about how or when the plan would work. Additionally, Trump has not committed to deploying U.S. troops on the ground or spending U.S. taxpayer money in Gaza.

Trump and Israel have not said how they would respond if the Palestinians refuse to leave. But Human Rights Watch and other groups have said the plan would amount to “ethnic cleansing.”

In a post on X, Iran's Foreign Ministry said Trump's plan was part of Israel's efforts to "completely annihilate the Palestinian people." (AP/REUTERS)