Feb. 6 (UPI) — Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on Thursday proposed offering residents the right to resettle in any country that will have them after U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to take over Gaza and relocate Palestinians to neighboring countries.
Saying the people of Gaza should have the same right to freedom of movement and migration that was the norm around the world, Katz announced on X that the plan would provide a range of exit options, including via land crossings, as well as special arrangements to depart by sea and air.
He singled out Canada as a top potential destination due to what he said was its “structured immigration program” and previously stated willingness to accept migrants from Gaza.
“I have instructed the IDF to prepare a plan that will allow any resident of Gaza who wishes to leave to do so, to any country willing to receive them,” he said in his proposal in which he also threw down the gauntlet to countries critical of the way Israel had conducted its military offensive in Gaza.
“Countries such as Spain, Ireland, Norway and others, which have falsely accused Israel over its actions in Gaza, are legally obligated to allow Gazans to enter their territory. Their hypocrisy will be exposed if they refuse,” wrote Katz.
“I welcome President Trump’s bold initiative, which can create extensive opportunities for those in Gaza who wish to leave, assist them in resettling in host countries, and support long-term reconstruction efforts in a demilitarized, threat-free Gaza after Hamas — an effort that will take many years,” he added.
The former foreign minister’s plan came hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that he backed Trump’s plan to move Palestinians to neighboring countries and to take “long-term ownership” of the Palestinian territory, calling it a “remarkable idea.”
“The actual idea of allowing first Gazans who want to leave to leave, I mean, what is wrong with that?” he told Fox News, but then added to the confusion by suggesting it would be temporary, saying those who left “can come back.”
Trump clarified the bombshell plan he dropped Tuesday after an hours-long Oval Office meeting with Netanyahu, saying Israel would hand Gaza to the United States once the fighting was over, there would no U.S. boots on the ground, and that by clearing Palestinians out, he meant permanently resettling them in neighboring countries.
“The Gaza Strip would be turned over to the United States by Israel at the conclusion of fighting. The Palestinians … would have already been resettled in far safer and more beautiful communities, with new and modern homes, in the region,” he wrote on his social media site Thursday.
The comments appeared to contradict those of his senior officials claiming the plan was to make Gaza safe and rebuild with Palestinians relocating while that work was taking place.
“What he’s very generously — very generously has offered is the ability of the United States to go in and help with debris removal, help with munitions removal, help with reconstruction, the rebuilding of homes and businesses and things of this nature, so that then people can move back in. But in the meantime, they’ll have to live somewhere,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters Wednesday during a visit to Guatemala.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt in her Wednesday briefing to reporters stressed that any displacement of Palestinians to U.S. allies in the region would be temporary “so that we can rebuild their home.”
“I can confirm that the president is committed to rebuilding Gaza and to temporarily relocating those who are there, because … it is a demolition site. There is no running water. There is no electricity,” she said. “The president wants these individuals to live in peace. He is committed to doing that with this very bold new plan, and we will continue to keep you apprised of updates as we receive them.”
Netanyahu’s trip, the first of any foreign leader since Trump’s return to the White House for a second term Jan. 20, was billed as a meeting to work out if and how an initial six-week Israel-Hamas cease-fire that Trump helped force over the line could be extended into a second planned phase.
However, the cease-fire planning was upended by Trump’s announcement of his vision to turn Gaza into the “Riviera of the Middle East,” with the idea of moving out its 2 million population, prompting anger in the region and around the world and accusations of ethnic cleansing.
U.S. Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, speaking on the floor of the House on Wednesday, described the idea as “ethnic cleansing.”
“Ethnic cleansing is not a joke, especially when it emanates from the president of the United States, the most powerful person in the world, when he has the ability to perfect what he says,” Green said. “Ethnic cleansing in Gaza is no joke, and the prime minister of Israel should be ashamed knowing the history of his people.”
Later, U.N. Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, warned a meeting that it was “essential to avoid any form of ethnic cleansing.”
The idea was immediately rejected by Saudi Arabia. Egypt, Jordan, Palestine, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates had already dismissed the idea at a meeting of Arab states Saturday, a week after Trump first raised the idea of what he called a “clean out” involving sending Palestinians to Egypt and Jordan.
The plan also came in for criticism from Germany, Brazil and China and Britain with Prime Minister Keir Starmer saying Britain’s policy continued to be that it wanted to see a two-state solution.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for the Palestinian Authority, which governs the West Bank but not Gaza, reiterated Thursday that Trump’s plan was a non-starter.
“Palestine, with its land, history and holy sites, is not for sale, and is not an investment project. The rights of the Palestinian people are not negotiable and are not a bargaining chip.”
He insisted that Palestinians “will not give up an inch of their land, whether in the Gaza Strip or the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the capital of the state of Palestine.”
That claim is disputed by Israel which holds Jerusalem is its capital and operates the western part of the city as such. Only the United States has recognized Israel’s claim.
