By James Mackenzie and Jana Choukeir
JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israel’s defence minister ordered the army on Thursday to prepare a plan to allow the “voluntary departure” of residents from Gaza, after U.S. President Donald Trump drew widespread condemnation for announcing plans to take over the strip.
Defence Minister Israel Katz hailed Trump’s announcement that the United States would aim to take control of Gaza, resettle the more than 2 million Palestinians living there and transform the territory into the “Riviera of the Middle East”.
“I welcome President Trump’s bold plan, Gaza residents should be allowed the freedom to leave and emigrate, as is the norm around the world,” Katz said on X.
Katz said his plan would include exit options via land crossings, as well as special arrangements for departure by sea and air.
Hamas official Basem Naim accused Katz of trying to cover up “for a state that has failed to achieve any of its objectives in the war on Gaza”, and said Palestinians are too attached to their land to ever leave.
Displacement of Palestinians is one of the most sensitive and explosive issues in the Middle East. Forced or coerced displacement of a population under military occupation is a war crime, banned under the 1949 Geneva Conventions.
Israeli strikes which killed tens of thousands of people over the past 16 months have forced Palestinians to repeatedly move around within Gaza, seeking safety.
But many say they will never leave the enclave because they fear permanent displacement, like the “Nakba”, or catastrophe, when hundreds of thousands were dispossessed from homes in the war at the birth of the state of Israel in 1948.
Many were driven out or fled to Gaza, the West Bank and neighbouring Arab states including to Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, where their descendants still live in refugee camps. Israel disputes the account that they were forced out.
Katz said countries who have opposed Israel’s military operations in Gaza should take in the Palestinians.
“Countries like Spain, Ireland, Norway, and others, which have levelled accusations and false claims against Israel over its actions in Gaza, are legally obligated to allow any Gaza resident to enter their territories,” he said.
“Their hypocrisy will be exposed if they refuse to do so. There are countries like Canada, which has a structured immigration program, that have previously expressed a willingness to accept Gaza residents.”
His remarks drew quick criticism Spain’s Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares.
“Gazans’ land is Gaza and Gaza must be part of the future Palestinian state,” Albares said in an interview with Spanish radio station RNE.
Katz accused Hamas of holding Palestinians hostage in Gaza, preventing their departure and extorting money from them through the humanitarian aid system. He did not elaborate.
Trump’s unexpected announcement, which has sparked anger around the Middle East, came as Israel and Hamas were expected to begin talks on the second round of a fragile ceasefire plan to end almost 16 months of fighting in Gaza.
INTERNATIONAL CONDEMNATION
Trump drew rebukes on Wednesday over his plan for Gaza from world powers Russia, China and Germany, which said it would foster “new suffering and new hatred”.
Egypt and other Arab nations strongly oppose any attempt to push Palestinians over the border. They fear any mass movement would further undermine prospects for a “two-state solution” – the idea of creating a state of Palestine next to Israel – and leave Arab nations dealing with the consequences.
Regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia rejected the proposal outright and Jordan’s King Abdullah, who will meet Trump at the White House next week, said on Wednesday he rejected any attempts to annex land and displace Palestinians.
In a post on X, Iran’s foreign ministry said Trump’s plan was part of Israel’s attempt to “completely wipe out the Palestinian people”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that Trump’s proposal was “remarkable” and urged that it be explored, even as he was not specific about what he believed Trump was offering.
Netanyahu said he did not believe Trump suggested sending U.S. troops to fight Hamas in Gaza, or that Washington would finance rebuilding efforts.
“This is the first good idea that I’ve heard,” he added. “It’s a remarkable idea, and I think it should be really pursued, examined, pursued and done, because I think it will create a different future for everyone.”
Hamas, which ruled the Gaza Strip before the war, said Trump’s proposal was “ridiculous and absurd”.
Since Jan. 25, Trump has repeatedly suggested that Palestinians in Gaza should be taken in by regional Arab nations such as Egypt and Jordan, an idea rejected by both the Arab states and Palestinian leaders. He has given no specifics of his proposal to take over Gaza.
Trump’s aides defended his proposal but backed away from elements of it after international condemnation.
The war in Gaza was triggered by an October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas on Israeli territory, when fighters killed 1,200 people and abducted more than 250 hostages, by Israeli tallies.
Since then, U.S. ally Israel’s military assault on Gaza has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians in the last 16 months, according to the Gaza health ministry, and provoked accusations of genocide and war crimes that Israel denies.
The assault repeatedly internally displaced nearly all of Gaza’s population, destroyed entire cities and towns and caused a hunger crisis.
(Reporting by Jana Choukeir in DubaiWriting by Michael GeorgyEditing by Sharon Singleton and Peter Graff)
